WolfChild
by Crawler
Summary: On detention in the Forbidden Forest, Harry and Draco stumble across a strange puppy who follows them back to Hogwarts. FINISHED! Author's note added, please read if you've read the story
1. Lucius?

This is part one of the prologue to my story.  After I finish the prologue, I'll go back through and edit the chapters I have up before continuing.  I hope no one minds, I'm trying to keep writing.  Sorry for taking so long.

Rated. . .PG now.  Might go up.  There _will be slash relationships, male loving male in other words.  If that's not your cup of tea, I'm sorry.  It won't get explicit, I'll promise you that._

This is going to be a humorous story, hopefully.  Maybe a bit of angst and drama as well.  I still don't really know where this is going, but a hazy plot is forming in my mind. . .

I DON'T OWN THIS!  I'm just having fun, the same way the DADA professor is having fun with potions. . .

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**_Wolf-Child_**

            Harry, Ron, and Hermione tore through the halls.  It was their first day of Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins, and already they were going to be late.  Peeves had stolen Ron's book and refused to give it back until the Bloody Baron glided past.

            "I hope our new Defense professor likes Gryffindors and goes easy on us."

            "I'll be happy just as long as he's not trying to kill me," Harry sighed.  "I can live with detention, but four years of bad teachers. . ."

            "Three, don't forget Lupin."

            "Well, true, he didn't want to kill me, but he was hiding a big secret."

            The three burst into the DADA room and froze.  "Speak of the devil," Ron muttered under his breath.  Lucius Malfoy sat on the desk, attired in stylish professor robes.  He gestured to the three empty desks, and they quickly sat.  The room was deathly silent as Lucius gazed at the students.  Even the Slytherins were behaving.  With a malicious smirk on his face, Lucius started to speak in his trademark Malfoy drawl.

 "Since there are no longer any empty desks, I will assume you are all here and I do not need to be bothered with the role.  Now, before my class begins, there are some things you should know."  Lucius slid off the desk and started pacing the classroom.  He paused in front of Draco.  "First off, Draco, you may breathe in my presence."  Draco let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.  Lucius nodded and crossed the room to pause in front of Harry.  He idly twirled his wand as he stared at Harry with a look akin to disgust.  "Secondly, I have no wish to harm Mr. Potter or any of you . . . yet.  While you are in my class, I will not attempt to kill you in any way."  He smiled and moved to sit in his chair.  "Thirdly, I have several papers here that assure you that you have no reason to fear me.  They are all signed by important people such as Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge, and others of high power, though sadly, I could not get Voldemort's signature."  Lucius spun his chair around so the class could only see its high back.  "Now, from what I have read from previous teachers, you are well versed in dark creatures and dark curses.  However, you are sadly lacking in dark potions.  Now, dark potions are not commonly taught in your normal potions class.  You barely brush the surface, unless you take advanced potions.  However, I am sure that many of you would never dream of being caught dead in advanced potions, so you must acquire that knowledge elsewhere.  Where better than in Defense against the Dark Arts?  Today we shall start of with one of my favorite potions."  

Here Lucius' voice changed, and Harry gasped in shock as he recognized it.  "The Polyjuice Potion."  Lucius spun his chair around to face the class again.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione all sighed in relief, relaxing into their chairs.  Sirius Black grinned at the panicked class.  "Now, as I have already said, thirdly, you have no reason to fear me.  I'm completely innocent, that's what all those papers are for.  In case you're still scared, Professor Lupin will be in the back of the class at all times.  He and I are both the new Defense professors this year.  Professor Lupin will teach the first four years while I will teach the last three years and I will teach his classes around the full moon.  Occasionally, we will switch, and you'll have him as your teacher."

Sirius paused as the Gryffindors clapped enthusiastically.  Remus blushed as he continued to grade papers, not bothering to look up.  Sirius grinned.  "All right.  Polyjuice Potion.  The Polyjuice Potion is a favorite of many dark wizards.  Can anyone here tell me why?  Draco, how about you?"

Draco looked up.  "It's quite simple, really.  The Polyjuice Potion allows the drinker to assume the identity of another for a short period of time, one hour.  If a dark wizard consumed a Polyjuice Potion of one of his enemies, he would be able to slip paste his enemies' defenses, without anyone knowing."

Sirius nodded.  "That's correct.  Now, if I'm not mistaken, your Defense professor last year, Professor Moody, turned out to be a dark wizard who had been consuming the Polyjuice Potion.  He had done his homework, studying Alastor Moody for some time to learn his actions and patterns, however, that is not necessary.  Humans tend to rely on their sight a lot, and are willing to believe whatever they see is true.  Now, who here thought I was really Lucius Malfoy?  Raise your hands."

The whole class raised their hands, and Sirius nodded.  "As I had suspected.  I knew Lucius from school days, and had taken the Polyjuice Potion, but other than that, I wasn't really sure how he would act, so I made it up.  However, because I _looked like Malfoy, and __sounded like Malfoy, you all assumed I __was Malfoy."_

Dean Thomas raised his hand reluctantly.  "Um, Professor?  If the Polyjuice Potion is such an effective potion, why isn't it used more often?"

Sirius smiled.  "Good question.  Why isn't it used more often?  Hermione, why don't you tell us."

"Well, the Polyjuice Potion is a very complex potion.  Not only does it take a month to brew, but it can only be used with humans.  If animal fur is used, it becomes permanent unless a trained mediwizard reverses the effect.  Also, although the taste alone isn't really enough to put people off using it, the sensation of turning into someone else is less than pleasant. . ."  Hermione trailed off as Ron kicked her under the desk.

"Be careful, or people might think you're speaking from experience!" he hissed under his breath.  Hermione gasped slightly and gazed at her desk.  Sirius smiled, guessing correctly what Ron had told her.

"Thank you Hermione!  You're absolutely right.  The Polyjuice Potion is difficult to brew, and less than pleasant to experience.  However, Dumbledore has given me permission to allow you to try some, if you dare."  Sirius gestured to the trays of glasses on his desk.  "The potion has been brewed by Professor Snape, who is better at that kind of thing, so you know it was made correctly.  Each glass contains hair from a different person.  They were randomly concocted.  Now, if you wish to try one, you may come up and sample it.  I assure you, none are animal, and the effect will wear off after one hour."

The class looked at each other, but no one moved to sample it.  Sirius shrugged and picked up a glass.  He studied the brown liquid for a moment, then downed it.  Everyone gasped, except Remus, who merely shook his head.  Sirius blinked at them, then started to change.  Moments later, Rita Skeeter sat before them.  She rubbed her nose, pulled out a mirror, and looked at herself.  Remus broke the silence with a snort of laughter.  Sirius shook his head.  

"Oh, I almost forgot!  If you do want to try some, you'd better put a stretching charm on your robes before drinking.  Some potions have been charmed so you get the clothing of the people you turn into, but not all of them.  You don't want your clothes tearing as you transform!"

The door flew open and Fred and George bounced in.  "Hi Professors!  Potions was canceled, so we were wondering if we could help you!"

"Potions was canceled?"  Remus was shocked.  "Why would Snape do such a thing?"

The twins shrugged.  "No clue."

"I mean, it's not like Snape got mad at us."

"But it was hilarious, wasn't it?"

"Of course!  That's not something I'll ever forget!"

"'Now add the lacewing,' and chocolate syrup comes out instead!"

"Or the salt instead of powdered bicorn horn!"

"And the cupcakes suspended in his jars instead of dead slimy things!"

"We got detention, but seeing Snape's expression after we swapped all his stuff for food was worth it!" they cried together.

George looked around.  "Hey, where's Siri, uh, Professor Black?"  Fred nudged him and pointed at Rita.  "Oh, Polyjuice Potion!  Can we have some?"  Sirius grinned and gestured at the glasses.  George chose one with a sickly yellow tinge while Fred picked a dark silvery-grey one.  "Bottoms up!"

The twins shifted into two girls, Millicent Bulstrode and Fleur Delacour.  They looked at each other, and collapsed laughing.  Hermione pressed her hands over her mouth to stifle her laughter, while Ron and Harry laughed outright with most of the class.  Sirius offered some potion to the real Millicent.  "Do you really want to look like George's twin?"  Millicent shuddered and grabbed a silvery-yellow potion.  George huffed, offended.  Millicent gasped as she turned into Draco.  Ron groaned.  

"Oh great, now there's two of him!"

While the class was distracted by Millicent, now Draco, Fred and George pounced.  Fred held the real Draco down while George poured a green potion down his throat.  Draco gagged for a moment.  Sirius scowled at the twins.  "Now boys, just because he's a nasty git doesn't mean you get to force him to take. . .oh my."  Draco had pulled out a mirror, looked at himself, and promptly collapsed in a chair, moaning.

"Anyone but Potter!  Why did it have to be Potter?"

            Crabbe and Goyle were shocked by Draco's new appearance.  With his new messy black hair, green eyes, and lighting bolt scar, it was almost impossible to tell him apart from the real Harry.  Shrugging stupidly, they each chose a potion themselves.  If Draco did it, it must be the right thing to do.

            Cho Chang and Ginny Weasley blinked stupidly at the rest of the class a moment later.  Draco took one look at them and started banging his head against the desk.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione put their heads together.

            "There is no way I'm going to stay looking like Draco, even if he does look like me, but I don't want to drink the potion alone. . ."  Hermione silenced Harry.

            "Don't worry, we'll drink some too!"

            Ron selected three potions and brought them back to their seats.  He gave Hermione an olive green one, Harry a bright yellow one, and kept an oily black one for himself.  Hermione looked at hers warily.  "Uh, Ron?  Can I swap?  I really don't like green. . ."  Ron sighed and switched glasses with her.

            "On the count of three, okay?  One, two, three!"

            The trio drank together and gagged together.  Or at least Ron and Hermione did.  Harry looked pleasantly surprised.  "That didn't taste half bad!"

            Remus struggled to breathe between laughter as Ron turned into Professor Trelawney, Hermione changed into Professor Snape, and Harry became Professor McGonagall.  "Oh my, you do look. . ."  Remus shook his head, unable to finish his sentence for laughing too hard.

            Winky ran up to Harry and tugged on his robes.  "Whoever you are, help me!  Please!"

            Harry squinted down at the house elf.  "Oh, hi Winky!  What are you doing out of the kitchens?"

            Winky stamped her foot and scowled at him.  "Oh, shut up!  I'm not Winky, I'm Seamus!  I tried to get Dumbledore over there to help me," Seamus flapped a hand behind him, where Harry was surprised to see Dumbledore was sitting, "but he said he really shouldn't!  All I wanted was for someone to help me find some decent clothes!  Maybe some pants or something!"  Seamus tugged Winky's skirt lower with one hand while trying to hold it up with the other.  Harry frowned and shrugged.  "Sorry Seamus, I don't know what I can do."  Seamus groaned and stomped off, pulling on Hermione's robes.

            The classroom was turning into a zoo.  Viktor Krum was walking around, admiring himself, while a new Hermione stood frozen, staring into Draco's mirror.  Sirius was sitting on one of the desks, flexing his arms and grinning at the muscle he felt.  Fred and George were staring at each other, mouthing, "I'm a _boy?" over and over.  In the back of the room, Remus, the only one who was still who he started off as, was laughing his head off, his dignified professor role thrown out the window._

(From here on out I'm going to use the names of their transformed forms.  For a full list of students and their forms, see below)

Rita grinned, a truly evil smirk.  Looking at the few glasses she had left, she picked a forest green one and went to sit on Remus' desk.

            "Oh Mo~ony!" she crooned.  "Aren't you forgetting something?"  Remus stopped laughing abruptly and pushed his chair away.

            "No, I don't think so, thanks for asking though."  Remus tried to leave, but Millicent and Fleur were right behind him.

            "Hey, because he's being a stubborn stick-in-the-mud, can we hold him down while you force him to take the potion?  After all, he's not our professor this year. . ."  The two girls trailed off, identical mischievous grins on their faces.  Rita tapped her chin with one long fingernail.

            "Well, since it's the two of you, and I'm the one doing the actual potion forcing, how about this.  If you can hold him down long enough for me to force this down his throat, I'll give you each ten points to Gryffindor."

            The girls cheered and dived at Remus, pinning him to the chair.  Remus struggled, putting up a good fight, but others joined in to help.  With Professor McGonagall in your lap, Millicent, Fleur, Snape and Trelawney clinging to your arms, and Winky sitting on your head, it's hard to break free, werewolf strength or not.

            The dark green potion didn't taste nearly as bad as he had thought it would.  In fact, Remus decided, as he held it in his mouth before swallowing, there was something oddly familiar about it, something that stirred up long-dormant memories.  It tasted like a mix of wood, moss, and water, with a tinge of sweat and the slight tang that Remus associated with deer, especially stags named Prongs.

            _Moony raised his muzzle to the moon and howled.  Padfoot sat beside him, silently watching.  Breaking off mid-howl, the wolf looked at the large dog.  He woofed before pointing his muzzle up again, but made no further sound.  His eyes never left Padfoot's.  Padfoot sighed and lifted his own muzzle to the moon.  Moony's tail swished through the snow once before he started to howl again.  Padfoot joined in, harmonizing with his friend._

_            The two canines finished their song to the moon together.  With a flick of his ear, Padfoot trotted off for the __Forbidden__Forest__.  Moony sat confused, unsure of what to do now that he had gotten out of the Shack for the first time.  Padfoot flicked his ear and Moony barked happily, chasing after him.  The two raced each other to the forest, where a stag and a rat were waiting.  Moony sat down again while the other three animals greeted each other.  He inhaled deeply, tasting the unique feel__ of the forest, the wood, moss, and mist.  The scents of the animals wove through the taste, and Moony drank in the feeling of being free. . ._

            "You have to swallow."  Rita leaned forward impatiently, tapping her wand in her hand.  Remus jolted from his stroll down memory lane and obeyed.  A strange, twisting sensation overtook him as his body shifted into an unfamiliar shape.  He closed his eyes and the transformation occurred, acutely aware of the silence that suddenly surrounded him.

            "Who did I turn into?"  Remus opened his eyes slowly and looked around.  Everyone was staring at him with mixture of shock and amazement on their faces.  Dumbledore spoke first.

            "Why, you look just like Harry, only older, without the scar!"

            Remus froze.  An older version of Harry?  But that would mean. . . He shook his head slowly.  No.  There was no way he could be. . .

            Rita silently held up a mirror.  James Potter stared out of it, thin and pale, but unmistakably James.

Oooh, Jamie!  Anyone offended if I bring James back?

Here's the list of students and their transformed states.  I'm counting house-elves as humans.  They're humanish, and I just couldn't think of anyone else for Seamus, sorry.

Harry Potter- Professor McGonagall 

Ron Weasley - Professor Trelawney

Hermione Granger – Professor Snape

Draco Malfoy – Harry Potter

Neville Longbottom – Professor Dumbledore

Seamus Finnigan - Winky

Goyle – Ginny Weasley

Crabbe – Cho Chang

Fred Weasley - Millicent Bulstrode

George Weasley - Fleur Delacour

Remus Lupin - James Potter

Sirius Black - Rita Skeeter

Dean Thomas – Viktor Krum

Patsy Parkinson – Hermione Granger

Blaise Zambini – Sirius Black

Lavender Brown – Fred Weasley

Parvati Patil – George Weasley

Millicent Bulstrode – Draco Malfoy

This prologue is going to be at least two parts, so there's a gap between this chapter and the next one, sorry.

~Crawler


	2. Are you my daddy?

There aren't any pairings now, but there will be some later.  Like I said in the first part, there WILL be slash.  If you don't like that, I'm sorry, you don't have to read this.

I really suck at warnings.  I'll let you know if anything serious is going to happen.

I don't own Harry Potter or anything like that, yet, but I do own the cute puppy.

I've revised this chapter, hope you still enjoy it!

**_Wolf-Child_**

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            After that eventful DADA class, the group of Slytherins and Gryffindors went to double Potions together.  The Polyjuice Potion still hadn't worn off, and Snape was in a bad mood.  Not only did he have to teach himself, (Hermione) but he had to teach other professors, including Sirius (Blaise).  Harry (Draco) refused to get out of Draco's seat and Dumbledore (Neville) melted Winky's (Seamus') cauldron into a twisted mess.  Fred and George (Lavender and Parvati) were back in his class, and the memory of their last prank was still fresh in his mind.

            Much to everyone's surprise, Harry and Draco both walked out of Potions with detentions.  Draco was shocked.  Snape had never given him a detention before.  True, it had been given to him while he was Harry, but still!

            Harry decided detention was worth the stunned look on Draco's face.

            Draco took his time meeting Harry, Fred, George, and Hagrid by the Forbidden Forest for detention.  The twins leered at him as he approached.  Hagrid clapped his big hands together.

            "Right then!  Since ye two can't be trusted alone in this forest, yer goin with me!  Harry, ye get Malfoy.  Sorry 'bout that, but these two really can't be unsupervised.  Y'also get Fang.  Now, Professor Snape is in need of some fresh ingredients.  Here, Harry, you get half the list, and we'll keep the other half.  Get back here when ye're done.  Oh, an don't forget to send up red sparks if ye get inter any trouble."

            Draco reluctantly took Fang's leash and the trio started off.  Harry read the ingredients off the list while Draco was in charge of the jars to put them in.

            "Watch it Malfoy!"

            "I wasn't doing anything, Potter!"

            "You tripped me!"

            "Listen, scarface, I've been behind you this whole time.  How could I have tripped you?"

            "I don't know, magically?"

            "Potter, you probably tripped over a stone or something.  Now, let's hurry up and find that. . .what was it again?"

            Harry pushed a branch aside and sighed.  "Dittany, Malfoy, we're looking for dittany."

            "Right.  Dittany.  Tell me, why couldn't Snape have just gathered this stuff from the greenhouses?  It would have been a lot easier then traipsing through this forest with only you for company."

            Harry groaned.  "None of this stuff _grows_ in the greenhouses, Malfoy."

            "Well it should.  Maybe we could bring Sprout some seeds or something."

            Draco had been relatively civil.  He would complain and insult Harry, but his insults lacked their usual venom.  Draco seemed bored, something Harry was grateful for.

            "Harry, freeze."

            "What?"

            "Freeze!  Freeze as in: Stop, don't move, don't flinch, and don't panic!"

            "Draco, what is it now?"

            "Something moved, off to our right."

            Harry closed his eyes, counting to ten.  Draco, this is the Forbidden Forest.  Things are always moving."

            Draco shot a dirty glare at Harry before moving toward the trees curiously.  "I wonder what it is. . ."

            "Draco, don't wander off the path!  It's dangerous!"

            Draco glanced over his shoulder with a cocky grin.  "Aww, thanks Potter!  I didn't know you cared!"

            "I just don't want to get in more trouble if I return with you dead," Harry snarled.  Draco just shook his head and pushed through the trees.  With a sigh, Harry tugged at Fang's leash and followed.

            "Whoa, Potter, look at this!"  Draco's voice was hushed.  Harry peered over Draco's shoulder and gasped quietly.

            A huge black wolf was lying in a clearing.  At first Harry feared it was Sirius, but the muzzle was too long and pointed, and the coat was too short.  The quarter moon shone on her.  As the boys watched, the wolf lifted her head and looked at them.  Whining softly, she dipped her muzzle and pushed a smaller bundle of fur toward them, before her head fell back onto her paws.  The wolf whimpered again before her eyes closed and one last breath shook her body.

            "Is she dead?"

            "I think so."

            Fang cowered behind Harry as the smaller bundle of fur uncurled itself and stood up.  Draco and harry both pulled back, shocked.

            The creature wasn't a pup, like they had originally thought.  It was half human, half wolf.  From the waist down, the child was definitely canine, from the thick coat of gray fur to the tail to the powerful paws.  From the waist up, the child was relatively normal.  It had a ruff of fur around its neck, fangs, wolf ears, and stubby fingers with short, sharp claws at the end.  Other then that, the child seemed to be a dirty kid.  Its black hair hung in an untidy mess around its elfin face.  Neither Draco nor Harry could tell the child's gender.

            It barked, wagging its tail.  Dropping to all fours, it trotted over to the boys.  As it pranced around their feet, sniffing at their shoes and touching noses with Fang, Harry and Draco attempted to keep away from it.

            "So, what is this thing, Potter?"

            "What, am I some kind of animal expert now?"

            "Well, you spend so much time with that oaf, Hagrid, surely you must be well-versed in all types of bizarre creatures."  Draco's voice dripped with sarcasm.  Harry growled.

            "Hagrid's not an oaf."

            "But Potter. . .YAAAH!  That thing just bit me!"  Draco was shaking his hand, trying to dislodge the creature.  It had gently bit Draco's hand, barely breaking the skin, but now it let go, dropping to the ground and cowering behind Harry's legs, whimpereing in fear.  Draco drew his wand and advanced on it, but Harry stopped him.

            "Malfoy, it was just a little bite, and the thing's just a child.  It didn't know any better, so don't hurt it."

            "You'll sing a different song when it bites you too."

            "Malfoy. . ." Harry's voice held a silent warning.

            "Right.  What were we looking for again?"

            "Dittany," Harry sighed.

            The wolf-child tagged along at their heels like a puppy for the rest of their detention.  When they finally left the forest, ingriedients in hand, it followed them out.

            "Potter, that thing is still there."

            Harry turned and waved at it.  "Shoo!  Go on, scat!  Go home!"  The wolf-child trotted forward, tongue lolling from its mouth.  It barked and wagged its tail again.  "Shoo!"

            Draco sighed and picked up a stick.  He flung it at the wolf-child.  It whimpered, stepping back.  Draco flung another stick, and it turned and ran into the forest.  A moment later, a mournful howl rose from the trees.

            "Listen, Malfoy, you hurt its feelings!"

            "And you didn't?  Yelling at it after it trusted you, tsk tsk Potter, not a good way to treat an animal, now is it?"

            The boys gave Hagrid the ingriedients and returned to their respective rooms.  The wolf-child was forgotten.

            "We have to care for that!?!  But aren't griffins, especially young ones,  supposed to be highly dangerous if handled by unfamiliar people?"

            Hagrid sighed as Draco started on his usual dissing of the Care of Magical Creatures class.  "Malfoy, Kitten's not gonna be touched by anyone but me.  She knows an trusts me.  All ye're doin today is preparing her food."

            Harry looked at the table in front of him.  Kitten only ate raw meat.  They would be preparing mice and rats for her today.  He grimaced, as did most of the class.  Ron nudged him.  "Kitten, eh?  I wonder how long it's going to be until she breaks loose and attacks Ferret's arm."

            Seamus leaned back in his seat.  "I'll but a sickle on ten minutes."  Dean nodded.

            "Put me in, two sickles for five after Malfoy shuts up."

            "Harry?"

            "A sickle on seven and a half."

            "Great!  I'll be. . . a sickle for nine exactly."

            Nine minutes later, Kitten rusted her cage and flew into the students, snatching at the dead mice.  Girls shrieked as the students fled out of Hagrid's hut into the mud that was the Hogwarts' grounds.

            A dog started barking excitedly, and the next thing Draco knew, he was knocked to the ground.  The wolf-child crouched on his chest, licking his face excitedly.  Harry started laughing, and the wolf-child leapt at him.

            The class didn't know if they should laugh at Harry and Draco or scream as Kitten flew out of the hut.  A moment later, they decided to scream as she sank her talons into Draco's arm.  The wolf-child snarled and leapt from Harry.  It hit Kitten in the side and tore her from Draco.  The two animals rolled over and over, a blur of fur and claws.  When they pulled apart, the wolf-child was standing over Draco, snarling like its life depended on it.  Kitten limped away, feathers scattered over the ground.

            Ron collected his money.

            Hagrid locked Kitten in his storage shed.  After he was certain she couldn't get out, he knelt beside the wolf-child, stroking its head gently.  "Looks like you found yourself a friend, Malfoy."

            "It's _not_ my friend."

            Hagrid laughed as the wolf-child tried to lick Draco's arm clean.  Draco batted it away.  Hagrid scooped it up and scratched it under the chin.  It wagged its tail but wiggled free and trotted over to Harry.  Standing on its hind feet, it nuzzled Harry's hand.  Hagrid laughed again.  "Looks like she likes both of ye!  Have y'ever seen her before?"

            Harry absently patted her on the head.  "So it's a she?  We weren't sure.  Yeah, we met her in the Forbidden Forest yesterday when we were serving our detention.  She was next to a big black wolf who died.  She followed us around for a little, but stayed in the forest."

            "Well, I wouldn't recommend trying to get rid of her.  She's adopted the two of you as her foster parents, whether ye like it or not.  She seems hungry.  Harry, why don't you go get her some food?  Malfoy, you need to get up to the hospital wing.  For the rest of ye, class is over early.  Go have fun."

            Several weeks later, the wolf-child was still following Harry and Draco around.  Dumbledore permitted this, and would watch amusedly as Draco would struggle to keep her face out of his food, or Harry would try to keep her still long enough to put a shirt on her.  Once he got her dressed, keeping the clothing in one piece was another battle.

            Hermione was helping by scouring the shelves in the library for information, and forcing Ron to help her.  After she tore up a library book, they decided it was best not to let Harry help while the wolf-child was with him.

            "Harry, look at this!  It says that sometimes werewolves, while in their wolf form, sometimes mate with real wolves.  The result is a rare wolf/human hybrid. . .oh, but the child always dies young.  No hybrid has ever lived past ten, nor has any been civilized beyond barely tolerating clothing.  For the most part, they act like puppies for their whole lives, more dog then human."

            Ron offered the wolf-child a spoonful of food while Hermione talked.  The puppy stared at it curiously before dunking her head in Ron's bowl of cereal.  The Gryffindors chuckled as she licked milk from her face contentedly.  Ron groaned and pushed his bowl towards her.  "So we know what she is.  Does that book say anything about how to keep her out of your food?"

            Now that she had the bowl of cereal, the wolf-child decided she didn't want it.  She snatched a sausage from Hermione's plate and chewed on it.  Hermione sighed.  "No, it doesn't.  I don't even know if it would be possible."

            The doors to the Great Hall opened and the child's ears perked up.  With a joyous bark, she sprang from the Gryffindor table, tore across the room, and showered Draco in puppy kisses.  With a long suffering sigh, Draco scooped the puppy up and carried her over to Harry.

            "You get her today, Potter."

            "I had her yesterday!"

            "I had her all last week!  You aren't saddling me with her this week."

            Harry sighed.  "Fine.  I'll take her this week, but you have her Sunday."

            Draco scowled and dropped her in Harry's lap.  "Have fun."

            Harry patted her head absently as Draco stalked off.  "He really does like her, he just hides it."

            "Harry?"  Ron and Hermione were surprised at this.  "How would you know something like that?"

            Harry smiled.  "I follow him sometimes, when it's his turn with her, just to make sure he's not hurting her.  When he's alone, he plays with her, brushes her hair and fur, and lets her curl up in his lap.  It's actually kinda cute, watching them."

            The nearby Gryffindors chuckled, picturing Draco with the wolf-child in his lap.  Harry jumped as a hand fell on his shoulder.  "Hello Harry."

            Harry turned and grinned.  "Professor Lupin!  You're back!  Did your Order business go well?"

            "Yes, flawlessly.  I see you've found a canine friend.  Dumbledore has told me about her."

            Harry handed the child to Remus.  He sat beside Harry, placing the little girl in his lap.  His hands stroked her sides, gently feeling her ears and testing her strength.  She whimpered and squirmed, trying to lick his nose.  Remus laughed.  "She's quite healthy, but a little thin.  What's her name?"

            Harry looked at Ron and Hermione.  "Uh, we haven't really named her."

            "We didn't want to get too attached to her, since she's probably not going to live that long.  Hybrids like her never see their tenth birthday."

            "And there's no such thing as a tame werewolf."  Remus handed her back to Harry.  You should name her, and see if you can teach her some things.  She seems to be a very bright puppy.  She can't be much older then five, so you still have some years with her."

            Harry frowned.  Five years with the puppy?  But he'd be leaving Hogwarts in three years.  How would she still see both Draco and himself after they graduate?

~Crawler


	3. Dayco!

Still don't own Harry Potter.  There will be pairings and stuff later on, but for now it's still just cute.  However, Draco is temporarily mean to the puppy, but then he hugs her and says she so perfect.  
  


This is the night after the last chapter.  
  
  


**Wolf-Child**  
  
  


"So, Potter, why did you need to meet me here, in the middle of the night? If people found out I met you in the astronomy tower at midnight, rumors are going to start flying. . ."

"Shut up Malfoy, this isn't about snogging or anything like that," Harry wrinkled his nose at the idea. The wolf-child shifted under his hand and he stroked her head. "It's about her. I talked to Professor Lupin. He says we should give her a name and try to civilize her, if we can. Since she adopted both of us as her parents, we should name her together, don't you think?"

"Hmm." Draco actually looked thoughtful, for once. He crossed the room to where Harry sat and picked up the puppy, holding her in front of his face easily. She wiggled and licked his nose. It took all of Draco's self-control to hide his smile from Harry. "Well. . .I'm really no good at naming things. What do you think?"

Harry shook his head. "Actually, if I had had any idea, I wouldn't have asked you here. I hoped you'd know."

Draco shrugged and waved his wand, muttering something. A book of baby names dropped out of its tip. Draco tossed it at Harry. "See if you can find something good." He then sat down to play with the puppy. 

"How about Sahara? It means 'the moon'? Or maybe Sylvia, 'girl of the woods.' There's also Tala, Tina, Argenta, Cynthia, Gin, Gwendolyn, Kali, Kishi, Laila, Nokomis. . ."

"Wait, what was that last one?"

"Nokomis, it means 'daughter of the moon' in Native American."

"Noko. I like it."

The puppy barked and wagged her tail. "Noko it is!" Harry grinned. "Our own little daughter of the moon!" Noko wagged her tail and bathed Draco's face in puppy kisses.

"Malfoy, there's one more thing. . ." Harry trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

"Yes?"

"Well, um, you see, I know we're not the best of friends. . ." Draco snorted, and Harry smiled, continuing, ". . .but seeing as how Noko is kinda forcing us to be around each other a bit more, maybe we should call it a truce between us. I don't want Noko growing up with her parents fighting all the time."

Harry offered his hand. Draco stared at it. "You know, Potter, you sound just like a good parent." He paused, studying Harry's hand, before shaking it. "Sure. Truce."

Harry was shocked. He hadn't expected Draco to agree, at least not so quickly, but he quickly grinned. Sitting beside Draco, he shifted Noko into his lap. "Okay. Now let's see if we can teach her to speak."

"Harry, Noko, say Harry!" Noko barked. "No, Noko, Harry."

Draco chuckled and mocked Harry. "Come on Noko, say Draco, be a good girl!" She barked again, wagging her tail, and Draco scowled. "No, Noko, Draco. Say Draco."  
  
  


An hour later Noko still insisted on barking. Draco had had enough. He stood up, holding Noko at arms length and shaking her madly. "IT'S DRACO! SAY DRACO!" Harry was panicking as Noko whimpered in fear, her eyes comically wide.

"Draco, stop!"

"D-dayco."

Draco and Harry froze. "What did you say?"

"Dayco?"

Draco hugged Noko to him, laughing and spinning around. "Yes! Brilliant girl, beautiful girl, wonderfully smart and intelligent girl! You said it! You said my name!"

Noko grinned and wagged her tail. Her daddy was happy with her again. "Dayco, Dayco, Dayco!" she sang. Harry took her from Draco.

"Come on, Noko, say Harry! If you can say Draco. . ."

"Dayco!"

". . .Draco, then I know you can say Harry!"

"Dayco!"

"Nooo, Harry. Say Harry."

"Nooo."

"Harry."

"Dayco! Nooo, Dayco!"

Draco collapsed into a chair, laughing. "Oh, Harry! Can I call you 'Nooo' too? Please?"

Noko laughed and clapped her hands. "Peas, peas, peas! Dayco nooo peas!"

Harry put Noko down, ruffling her hair. "Looks like we're going to have to be careful what we say around her. Now that she's started talking, she's picking it up fast."

"Dayco nooo fas peas! Peas!"

"I wonder if she knows what she's saying, or if she's just a parrot."

"Pawwwwwet!  Pawet!"

Harry groaned and scooped Noko up. "I think she's just a parrot, for now. It's late, we really should be in bed. Thanks for the help, Draco. Say good-night, Noko."

"Nooo!"

Draco and Harry went their separate ways, but as they left, the same question came to both of them. 

When were we on first name basis?!?

That was short, but there are more parts up after this, so don't get mad.

Get glad.

~Crawler


	4. The mooooon!

You won't believe what rereading the Harry Potter series can do for your stories!  As I was reading, one line caught my eye.  Suddenly, this story started making sense, and I discovered where James Potter was!  (The scary part is, it could actually be true. . .if you can follow my reasoning, that is)  However, I promised myself no new chapters until I had Wolf-Child fully updated, so I'm scurrying so I can write the next part.  I can't wait!

Still don't own Harry Potter.  Do I have to keep saying that?

****

**_Wolf-Child_**

Ron and Hermione were at breakfast early the next morning.  Hermione was pouring over a book, as usual, while Ron played tug of war with Noko and a piece of bacon.  For such a small thing, she certainly was strong.  The bacon tore and Noko tumbled back, one half clenched between her sharp teeth.  Ron looked at the other half in his hand and sighed, tossing it at her.  She barked excitedly and gulped it down, before setting her sights on Ron's roll.

"Oh no you don't," he started warningly, wrapping one arm protectively around his plate.  Noko cocked her head and panted, her tongue hanging out of her mouth in a puppy smile.

"Pawet!" she barked.  "Pawet peas pawet!"

Hermione gasped, looking up from her book.  "Ron!  Was that the puppy?"

 Ron, just as shocked, nodded.  Noko shook her head and grinned again at his expression.  Hermione riffled through the book's pages before shaking her head and looking up again.  "But no wolf/human hybrid can learn to speak!  Never!"

"Maybe she's just special."

 "Nooo!"  Noko threw back her head and howled before leaping off the table and dashing over to Harry, who had just entered.  He scooped her up and nuzzled noses with her, laughing the entire time.  "'Lo Noko!  How've you been doing?"

"Fas!"

Harry chuckled and sat beside Ron.  "Hey.  Found anything new, Hermione?"

 "Well, she's talking, and that's supposed to be impossible, but other than that. . . what did you call her?"

Harry scratched Noko behind one fuzzy ear, and she sighed in pleasure.  "Noko.  That's her name.  Draco and I named her last night. As for her speaking, all Draco had to do was give her a good shake, and she started chatting away."

"Draco shook her!?!  Harry, that's not good!  It could seriously harm her!  Brain damage!"

 "Claim down, 'Mione!  Look, Noko's just fine, and Harry was with her when Draco shook her, so. . . um. . . she seems fine at least."

Hermione sighed.  "Excellent argument, Ron.  I cannot begin to disagree with your logic."

Noko's ears perked up and she glanced at the door.  Draco strolled in, and she tore over to him, yipping "Dayco!  Dayco!" the whole way.

Draco caught her in a bear hug, much to her delight.  He allowed himself a rare smile as he carried her over to the Gryffindor table and dumped her back into Harry's lap.  "You still have her, Potter."

"Don't be upset when you get her and she spouts Gryffindor names more than she does Slytherin then."

Draco smirked.  "She has yet to learn _your _name, Potter, but she can pronounce mine quite accurately.  I don't think I'll be upset anytime soon."

"Dayco!"  Draco patted Noko's head before strolling off to the Slytherin table.  Ron, Neville, Seamus, and Dean all crowded around Harry, trying to urge Noko into saying their names.  Eventually, Noko caught on and managed to call them; "On", "Bill", "Thay", and "Come."  Harry was still "Nooo!" and resigned himself to his new nickname.

Fred and George leaned over Harry's shoulder and scooped up Noko.  They cooed at her softly, then simply said, "Fred."

Noko studied them curiously, then repeated, quite clearly, "Fred."

"George."

"George."

 The twins shifted and pointed at Lee.  "Lee."

"Lee."

Grinning together, they handed her back to Harry.  "You got a bright one there, she'll be doing advanced Transfiguration with the best of them before you know it."

Lee linked arms with them, and the three bounced off, heads together as they came up with their latest prank

Harry looked at Noko.  "Harry."

 "Nooo!"

The Gryffindors face vaulted.  Noko wagged her tail.

Draco hugged Noko tighter to him as Harry and he headed towards the Whomping Willow.  She whimpered, sensing something was wrong.  

Harry prodded the knot and the two boys entered the passage.  Tonight was the full moon, and there was a chance that Noko became a full fledged monster under its silver glow.  Dumbledore hadn't wanted them to take any chances, so Noko would be locked up in a room in the Shack for the night.  Harry and Draco were allowed to stay in the Shack as well, provided they made sure the door was locked at all times.

Harry held the bedroom door open, and Draco set Noko gently on the bed.  "Be a good girl, Noko, and don't be scared.  We'll be right outside the door if you need us."

"Dayco?  Nooo?  Peas?"

 Draco and Harry both hugged her one last time before stepping out of the room and locking the door behind them.  They heard Noko jump off the bed and pad over to the door, scratching at it.  "Nooo?  Dayco?  Dayco?  Nooo?"

Draco bit his lip and reached for the handle, but Harry stopped him.  "If she is a werewolf, this is the best thing for her.  We can't let her out until we know for sure."

Draco sighed and let his hand drop back to his side.  "I hate it when you're right, Harry."

Not long later, the moon rose.  Through the door, the boys heard Noko howl.  Her cry rose in intensity until it was a sharp, pained sob, before stopping completely.  Harry and Draco stared at each other, worried for their baby.

 No sound came through the door.

~Crawler


	5. Oh Daddy Dearest!

A couple werewolves.  I will no longer say Harry Potter isn't mine, you should all know that by now.  It gets a bit darker in this chapter.

Oh, and no, sorry, Draco will not turn into a werewolf.  Noko didn't bite him under the full moon or near it, so she didn't pass lycanthropy on to him. 

**_Wolf-Child_**

****

****

Draco and Harry both lunged for the door at the same time. Draco got there first and unlocked it, throwing it open. Noko was standing in front of the window. She turned to them and wagged her tail, barking excitedly.

Noko had changed under the moon's influence, but not enough to be called a full-fledged werewolf. Her bare human skin was now covered in fur, and she had a short muzzle, but other then that, she seemed normal enough.

The two boys hugged her in relief, then hugged each other, then did a group hug. Noko licked their faces and grinned, woofing happily.

"Harry, she's fine. A bit fuzzier, but not a blood-thirsty monster. Can we take her back to Hogwarts now?"

Harry smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I don't think Dumbledore would mind. Come on, let's go."

Draco picked up Noko. Harry watched quietly. Noko obviously meant a lot to Draco, but he didn't know why.

Draco let Harry lead the way out of the Shrieking Shack and past the Whomping Willow. When the branches started moving again, Noko's head shot up. Her nose quivered slightly as Draco stopped, letting her sense her surroundings. Whimpering slightly, she wiggled, a sign that she wanted to be put down. Draco obliged. Harry noticed they had fallen behind and trotted back to them. "What's up?"

"Noko senses something."

Harry looked around. "Draco, it's a full moon. There could be werewolves in the Forest..."  He trailed off as Draco grabbed his arm.

A wolf stalked out of the forest, head low and lips pulled back in a snarl. Noko whimpered and backed up until she bumped against Draco's legs. The wolf trotted right up to the boys and picked up Noko by her scruff. She wailed, and it shook her, hard. Noko shut up.

Harry glanced over at Draco. The blond boy was biting his lip, his fists tightly clenched, but didn't dare move. This wolf was a werewolf. It was a miracle it hadn't attacked them yet, and neither wanted it to.

The wolf turned and trotted off. Noko hung from its mouth quietly until she noticed that it was taking her away from Harry and Draco. She wailed again, struggling to break free. The wolf snarled as she kicked at it, shaking her violently, but that only seemed to encourage her.  The wolf finally dropped her and cuffed her with a paw. She was bowled over, head over tail, and didn't get up. The wolf turned its attention to Harry and Draco. It slunk towards them as if stalking prey.  Noko pulled herself to her feet, shook herself off, and lunged at the wolf. Her sharp teeth sunk into its tail moments before it leapt at the boys. With a snarl, the wolf turned on Noko, attacking with teeth and claws. Noko fought back the best she could.

Draco unfroze and drew his wand. "Stupefy!" he cried. The wolf toppled over, motionless. Harry scooped up Noko's beaten body. 

"Come on, Draco, we have to get her to Madame Pomfrey!"

Draco kicked the wolf before chasing after Harry. Noko whimpered in Harry's arms, shuddering from the pain.

Another werewolf ran in front of them, and the boys stopped short. It turned to regard them with golden eyes, then turned its attention to Noko. The werewolf drew back, shocked, before carefully lifting Noko from Harry's arms and setting her on the ground. It started cleaning Noko, rocking her small body with every lick. It paused momentarily to signal to a large black dog with its tail. The dog ran off, and Harry collapsed gratefully next to the wolf. "Thanks, Moony. Will she be okay?"

Draco sat beside Harry warily, looking between the werewolf and his little girl. Moony glanced up at him and made a shrugging motion, before turning his attention back to Noko.

Madame Pomfrey, led by Sirius, came running out of the castle.

"Oh you poor little thing, how could you go out unsupervised on a full moon? Come on little one, the nerve of you two! Let me see her, Professor Lupin.  You two could have gotten her killed, or yourselves killed! Hush little puppy, don't cry, or you could have become a full werewolf, if you had been bitten!" Madame Pomfrey continued in this manner as she escorted them in. "Professors Lupin, Black, if you could find the beast that did this and dispose of him, I'd be much obliged."

YAY!  I can post a new chapter now!  WOOT!

~Crawler


	6. Now, who dared them to do that?

Ooh, nice big angst spiral at the end.  Mention of suicide and poor Harry has to deal with it.  Happy Draco in the first part.  A Yule Ball.

Much thanks to Dawnatello, whose Remus/Sirius tale set in Marauder days, "Moonlight Sonata" had the original wizard masquerade.  The examples I give in the story all come from her story, which can be found at her site, www.behindthemasks.com/dawntello/harrypotter  Be sure to check out her Ralph for Remus section too!  Ralph Fiennes **_is_** Remus Lupin.  I don't care what the rest of you think.

I do believe I should have said something else, but I forget what it was.  Oh well.  It'll come to me.

**_Wolf-Child_**

As the moon sank in the sky, Noko's extra canine features melted back into her normal form.  She woke slowly, blinking in confusion.  Draco was sleeping with his head resting right below her own, arms curled around her body.  Harry's head was rested on her pillow, curling around her slightly.  Remus slept several beds over, Sirius watching over him protectively.  Noko wagged her tail once.  She remembered how Remus had helped her last night.

            As Noko watched, Draco woke up.  Her concerned brown eyes were the first thing he saw.  "Hullo," he whispered.

            "'Lo," she whispered back.  Draco smiled and sat up slowly, rubbing his back and wincing.  Harry muttered something and threw his arm over Noko.  She rolled over and licked his nose.

            "Mmm, stop it. . . Noko?  I told you not to do that!"  Draco laughed as Harry scowled at Noko.

            "Oh come on, Harry!  She's just a puppy, she doesn't know any better!"  Harry stuck his tongue out at Draco, who only laughed harder.  "My my, have I found the famous Harry Potter's weakness?  He's not a morning person?  His nastiest comeback is his tongue?" 

            Harry found himself chuckling along with Draco, much to his disbelief.  The way Draco was disheveled from sleep and had genuine laughter on his lips was contagious.  No one could stay in a bad mood for long, seeing Draco look so _happy_.

            "What's so funny?" Sirius asked, appearing behind Harry.  Harry and Draco could only shake their heads and point at each other, laughing even harder.  Sirius wrinkled his nose, puzzled.  Noko copied him, and he chuckled.  "Hey little one, you don't have to worry about your dad trying to take you away anymore.  He won't ever bother you again."

            Harry and Draco stopped laughing.  "Sirius, what did you and Remus do to him!?"

            Sirius frowned.  "We didn't kill him, didn't need to.  Remus refused to go near him, and I was pretty edgy myself.  If I didn't know better, I'd say the creature had rabies, without the foaming at the mouth part."

            Draco stroked Noko's head absently.  "But werewolves don't get rabies."

            "That's what frightens me.  If this werewolf was sick . . . well, it can't be good.  We didn't have to kill the wolf, he died on his own.  If he had bitten one of you. . ." Sirius trailed off.  "We're going to see if Dumbledore knows anything and alert Hagrid about the possibility of sick animals.  Until then, stay away from the forest, and tell all your friends to, too."

            Sirius went back to Remus, who was waking up.  Draco leaned over the bed.  "Harry?  Do you think it's bad?" he whispered.

            "I don't know, I've never seen him this worried before," Harry whispered back.

            For those few fleeting moments that morning, Draco and Harry weren't arch-nemisises, rivals in a world being torn apart.  They were two boys, with a common love for a puppy.

            Several months later, Hogwarts was buzzing with excited energy.  Dumbledore had announced that another Yule Ball would be held, but this time it would be a wizard masquerade.  Wizard masquerades were different from muggle ones.  Instead of dressing up in costumes, witches and wizards dressed up in their best dress robes and donned a wizard mask.  Wizard masks were unlike muggle masks.  They were made of a magical substance and molded to the wearer's face.  No two were alike.  The magic of the mask was extraordinary.  They could turn cold-hearted snakes into the life of the party, brash young men into quiet charmers, and can help people find their soul mates.  Many couples had fond memories of relationships springing from the face of a mask, and the Hogwarts students were swept away by the idea.  

            Ron was toying with the idea of asking Hermione out, but was too afraid to do it.  Harry reminded him of the last Yule Ball and several minutes later Hermione and Ron were an established couple.

            Fred, George, and Lee had all been dared to go as girls, so they had spent their last Hogsmeade weekend searching for the most stunning witch robes and masks they could find.  They kept their purchases secret, informing any who asked that they would just have to wait like everyone else.

            Remus offered to baby-sit Noko for Draco and Harry.  The ball would be the night after the full moon.  Remus wouldn't have enough energy to attend, so he had no problem giving the boys a night to themselves.  Sirius was disappointed that Remus wasn't going, and hinted that he probably wouldn't be attending either.

            Draco spent the time up to the Yule Ball dodging Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode.  By the night of the ball, it was official.  Draco Malfoy was going solo.

            Harry did the same as Draco, only he didn't really have to avoid anyone.  Many witches were overjoyed that two of Hogwarts' most eligible bachelors would not have dates for the ball.  The only trouble would be in finding them.

            "Harry!  Stop looking at that thing!" Ron hissed as Harry checked the Marauder's Map for the umpteenth time that night.  "Noko's fine!  She's exhausted from the full moon even more than Remus is!  She's not going to do anything but sleep!"

            Hermione giggled.  "Harry, you're such a mother hen!  It's so sweet!"  Harry scowled at her.

            Two stunning witches emerged from the crowd of dancing bodies and made their way over to where the trio was sitting.  They were dressed alike in form-fitting pale gray robes that complemented their silver masks nicely.  They wore dainty silver gloves on their hands and had their blond hair pulled up with identical silver ribbons.  Behind their masks, brown eyes sparkled mischievously.

            "Ronniekins!  Darling, how are you!"

            "How did you know it was me?" Ron groaned.  The twins laughed and sat on either side of him.

            "We got you those robes, remember?  Harry, Hermione, how are you two enjoying the ball?  Is Ron being a good date?"

            Harry laughed.  "Well, Ron's being a perfect date for Hermione, but he's not all that great with me.  He likes to ignore me and go dance with Hermione all the time.  How are you two enjoying the ball, Fred and George?"

            If possible, more mischief danced in the matching brown eyes.  The twins leaned closer, devilish smirks on their faces.  "To be honest, it's great!  It's so much more fun to be girls at a dance then it is to be guys!  We're trying to flirt with every Slytherin we can find just to see the looks on their faces!  With our hair dyed and faces masked, no one knows it's us, especially if we split up!  And if someone tries to do something . . . inappropriate . . . well, let's just say we know a bit of muggle defense techniques as well as lock picking!"

            "Fred!" Ron cried, horrified.  "How many guys have you kicked?"

            "_Moi?_" Fred asked.  "Oh, hardly any!  I'd say . . . five?  Yeah, about five."  Ron looked scandalized. Hermione giggled and Harry wasn't sure if he should laugh at the thought of Fred kicking some poor, unsuspecting guy, or wince, sympathizing with the poor, unsuspecting guy.  Fred winked at them and the twins stood up again.  "Well, there are about 250 Slytherins in the school, so about 140 would be attending the ball.  Together we've only flirted with . . . oh, about 20 of them.  That's 120 more to find and flirt with.  Let one of us know if you spot Malfoy!  It's double points for whoever gets him!"  The twins slid off into the press of dancers again, their now blond hair soon out of sight.

            "Those two are insane."  Hermione stated.

            "Yeah, I'm going to miss them next year."

            After Ron and Hermione finished their punch, they went back out onto the dance floor, leaving Harry alone.  Harry nursed his cup for a little, then decided to try his luck in finding a dance partner.  He had improved since last year, but Parvati wasn't too keen on giving him a second chance.  He didn't really mind either.

            After making a circuit of the Great Hall, no easy feat, mind you, Harry still hadn't found anyone who caught his eye.  He decided to take a walk in the gardens and see if there was anyone who _wasn't_ busy in the rose bushes.  A familiar gray robe caught his eye.  Harry decided to leave Fred? George? and the girl he was snogging alone.  He'd tell Ron and they'd tease him later, but right now Harry felt that he'd be more embarrassed if he interrupted.

            Behind a fountain, Harry found a teen sitting on a bench, played with an intricate dagger.  Harry felt a sixth sense warning, kind of like when his scar hurt, only without the pain of his scar hurting.  "Hello."

            Without looking at Harry, the boy asked, "Does it hurt to die?"

            Definite warning bells now.  "I don't know, I've never died."

            "Me neither.  That's why I haven't done anything yet.  I'm scared of it hurting."

            Harry didn't know what to do.  This wasn't the type of conversation he ever thought he'd have, especially at Hogwarts.  However, he knew that if he walked away now, tomorrow he might be hearing of a death, one that may have been preventable.  He reached for the boy's hand.  "Come on."

            The boy allowed himself to be led off without complaint.  Harry tapped a statue with his wand.  "Levitium," he murmured.  The statue opened and Harry slipped inside.  "In here, come on."

            Harry had found this last year, when he had gone off one day to just be alone after the Triwizard tournament.  Fred and George probably knew about it, and the Marauders, since it was on the map, but Harry hadn't even told Ron and Hermione about this place.  The statue was a stag, another reason why Harry favored it.  He always felt closer to his father in here.  The other boy drew his legs up, and Harry sealed the statue.  "As long as we don't yell, no one can hear us.  I tested it by locking my owl in here.  I couldn't hear her even though I stood right outside."

            "Why did you take me here?"  The boy's voice was devoid of all emotion.  Harry bit his lip.

            "Well, it just seemed like you needed to talk, but I didn't think you'd like to risk your conversation overheard. . ."

            "So you're helping me?  You don't even know who I am."

            "I don't care.  You need someone to help you, even if all they do is listen!  I'm willing to listen, please, let me help you!  Maybe it's best that we don't know who each other is!  This way you'll know I won't ever tell on you, because I don't know you!"

            The boy's grey eyes filled with tears, but he hurriedly blinked them back and studied his hands.  "You want to help me . . . just because you feel like I need help?"

            Harry almost answered yes, but paused.  The boy's voice had cracked and wavered. "No, not because I feel like you need help.  I feel like you need a friend."  The boy's head shot up, his pained eyes meeting Harry's calm green ones.

            "Friend?"

Cliff hanger?

Don't you hate authors who do that?

Oh yes, now I remember what I was going to say!  I've done all the revising, and it turns out there WON'T be a second part to the prologue.  Everything's caught up now, unless you can find some severe mistakes.  I hope not though.

~Crawler

(did you notice George didn't speak?  And where was Lee?  He was dressed up like a girl too, wasn't he?)


	7. More interesting then Binns' lectures

Okay, this chapter is definitely darker.  The boy is Harry's age, and he's talking about his family.  Yeah, I know it's cliché, but there's this idea I want to work in, and it's introduced to Harry by means of this kid.  I'm sure you can all guess who he is, but Harry's rather thick, and I can prove it too.  He doesn't know, at least not yet.

Enjoy! (or not, really, it's up to you, but I hope you enjoy it.)

**_Wolf-Child_**

            Harry leaned forward and closed his hand over the hand holding the knife.  "Yes.  Friend.  Now please, tell me why you want to kill yourself."

            The boy studied him for a moment before lifting his left sleeve.  Harry recoiled slightly at the ugly red skull on his arm.

            "Pretty, isn't it?  Father made me get it last Hogsmeade weekend.  Father always wants me to be the best.  Top of the class, youngest Death Eater . . . it doesn't matter to him, so long as I'm the best.  Doesn't matter to me either.  I'm never good enough.  I'm a prefect, I have the highest scores in my house, but Granger's better.  I received my mark last week, but so did a rotten third year.  I can't throw off the Imperius curse, but Potter can.  The only thing I have that my father approves of is my looks, but that isn't even mine.  It's Father's."

            Now that the boy had gotten started, it seemed easier for him to continue.  Harry got the impression that the boy was releasing years of pent-up anger and frustration.  The boy took a deep breath and continued.

            "I've always been a disappointment to my father; as far back as I can remember.  He always delights in finding new ways to punish me."

            "What about your mother?" Harry had to interrupt.

            "My mother?"  The boy laughed harshly.  "My mother is a frigid bitch, pardon my language.  As long as she can dress up prettily, she cares for nothing else.  Why on earth should she care for me?  Merlin forbid, I made her _fat_!"

            Harry thought the boy had stopped, but a minute later he found he was wrong.

            "My father is planning to challenge Voldemort.  He's going to try to take over as a Dark Lord with the support of the good guys."

            "Dumbledore would never allow that!"

            "Dumbledore would be the first to go!  I've overheard my father talking about this plan.  The worst part is that he actually has a chance to be successful!"

            "Do you want him to succeed?"

            "Yes . . . and no.  It would be great to get Voldemort out of the picture, but my father is a cold genius.  Once he gets in power, no one will be able to stop him."  The boy studied Harry curiously.  "Have you ever been torn between what you know you _should_ do and what you know you _can_ do?"

            Harry smiled wryly as memories resurfaced.  First year with the stone, second year with the chamber, third year with Sirius, fourth year with his Voldemort duel, and fifth year with a boy who desperately needed a friend.  "Yeah, yeah I have."

            "What did you do?"

            Harry paused, trying to figure out the best way of phrasing it.  "Well . . . most of the time I went with what I should do and found it usually was the same as what I could do."

            "What should I do?"

            Harry shook his head.  "I can't tell you that.  You have to listen to your heart and your mind, and do what they tell you to."  There was an uncomfortable pause.  Harry gestured at the entrance.  "Ready to face the world again?"

            "Yeah, I think so," the boy smiled.  Harry slid out of the statue first and helped the other down.  "Potter, do you think Dumbledore' side would accept me?"

            Harry's eyes widened.  "You know who I am!?!  But how?"

            The boy pointed at Harry's eyes.  "There's only one Gryffindor with those bewitching eyes."

            "You pay attention to my eyes?"

            "They're far more interesting then Binns' lectures," he shrugged.

            "Should I be flattered?"

            "Why not?"

            "We're both male!"  Uncle Vernon had always drilled it into Harry's head that two men together intimately was wrong, evil, and demonic.  Then again, now that he thought about it, Uncle Vernon also always insisted magic was wrong, evil, and demonic too.

            "Potter, we live in a world where there are giant/human, wolf/werewolf, and hag/banshee relationships, along with many more scary ones.  How can male/male of the same species be considered disturbing?"  He laughed.  "Honestly Potter, you're acting like a homophobic muggle!"

            Harry sputtered.  The boy laughed again and kissed him on the cheek.  Under his mask, Harry flushed bright red.

            "Thank you," the boy whispered against the mask.  "See you tomorrow."  With that, he spun on his heel and dashed back into the castle, leaving a dazed Harry to touch his cheek.

            Ron and Hermione went with Harry to pick up Noko after the ball.  Remus greeted them with a tired smile.  Noko was curled up in his bed.

            "She slept most of the night away, no trouble at all."

            Ron shoved Harry playfully.  "See Harry!  I told you she was fine!  You didn't have to keep checking the map!"

            "The map!" Harry cried, searching his pockets.  "I forgot to wipe it!  Where is it?  Oh, please don't say I lost it!  Fred and George will kill me!"

            Remus deposited Noko in Harry's arms.  "Don't fret, Harry.  I'm sure it will turn up in the morning.  Now go get some sleep, or you'll regret it tomorrow."

~Crawler


	8. Who dat?

Here's the next chapter, for all you who've been waiting patiently. . . and some not so much.  It's much lighter-hearted then the last chapter, but there won't be too many more like this one, at least not that I can see.  Still, it's shaping up nicely.

I remember when it was only one part and I had no idea what would happen to it.  Thanks to everyone who's been helpful, especially my little brother, Spibro.  I couldn't do it without you groaning and saying "Do I have to listen to you read your story to me?  Can't I just play my game?"  Thanks bro!

:P

****

**_Wolf-Child_**

The map didn't turn up the next day, or the day after.  Harry didn't tell Fred or George about it, nor did he mention the snogging session he almost interrupted.  The suicidal boy was another secret he didn't even tell Ron or Hermione.  However, he did spend his time scanning the Slytherins for a gray-eyed prefect.

            After the Christmas Holidays, Sirius assigned group projects to his DADA class.  Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Draco were in a group together, studying Dark Objects.  The four met in the library after classes.  Hermione deposited a stack of books on their table.

            "These looked promising.  Here Ron, Harry, go through these four.  Malfoy, you can take these two, and I'll take these," she said in her 'scholar' attitude, passing out thick, dusty tomes.

            "Why don't we include some genuine Dark Objects in our project?" Draco asked, pushing Noko's face out of his book.  Apparently the little puppy loved the taste of moldy book pages.

            "I'm sure you'd have no problem providing them," Ron sneered.

            "I think it's a good idea," Harry interrupted, as the glares between Draco and Ron grew suffocating in their intensity.  "But only objects that lost their magic, like Riddle's diary."

            "You know about Riddles' diary?"  Draco stopped trying to glare Ron's freckles off and sounded genuinely surprised for once.  "Do you know what happened to it?"

            Whatever reaction Harry was expecting, that wasn't it.  "Uh, Riddle was destroyed.  Why?"

            "Pity.  He was fun to talk to."

            If it was humanely possible, the trio would have face vaulted.  "Fun to talk to!" Ron cried.  "Are you crazy?  He was Voldemort!  He nearly killed my sister!"

            Draco shrugged.  "But if you get past that, he's quite nice."

            Ron's face was changing colors rapidly.  Hermione placed a restraining hand on his shoulder.  "Draco, do you know of any other Dark Objects we could use without getting in trouble?"

            Draco tapped his chin with his quill.  "Hmmm, yes, actually, I might.  What about this?"  He pulled a very old and familiar piece of parchment from his bag.

            "That's mine!" Harry said.  Madame Pince shushed him, so he lowered his voice.  "I've been looking for that since the ball."

            Draco studied the map.  "Useful thing, this is.  Where'd you get it?"

            "I could ask you that myself."  Sirius and Remus came up behind Draco.  "I know that map was confiscated when Filtch caught Remuff . . ."  Remus clapped his hand over Sirius' mouth.

            "Hush Paddy, they don't need to hear that.  The map is Harry's now, never mind how he got it . . . Yuck!  Sirius, that's disgusting!"  Remus pulled his hand away from Sirius' mouth and wiped it on the taller wizard's robes.  Sirius had licked it.

            The trio grinned, but Draco ignored them.  "I think the map's malfunctioning," he stated.  "You two professors aren't on it."

            "It's not malfunctioning."  Remus leaned over Draco's shoulder and touched his wand to the map.  "Howl, bark, woof, woof, oh this is degrading."

            As they watched, words appeared under the header, in a curly script.

            _"Lady Love would like to offer her utmost apologizes to Mr. Moony and claims her mind had gone blank when deciding on a password for him."_

            Below it, more writing appeared in a different hand.

            _"Mr. Moony would like to assure Lady Love he doesn't mind and knows all too well what it feels like when your mind goes blank."_

            "Lady Love?" Harry asked. "Who's she?"

            "Lily," Remus said quietly.  "Lily's Marauderette nickname was Lady Love, given to her by Sirius due to her relationship with James.  It was her idea to put the Concealment Charm on the map to hide the Marauders and herself, and she came up with the passwords."

            "I'm feeling ignored," Draco stated.  "Who are the Marauders?"

            "The Marauders were my dad and his three friends when they were at Hogwarts.  Remus and Sirius were Moony and Padfoot.  My dad was Prongs, Peter Pettigrew was Wormtail, and I guess my mom was Lady Love.  They were pranksters extraordinaire and made this map.  Someone gave it to me third year, and I've had it ever since," Harry informed Draco.

            Noko climbed into Draco's lap and studied the map.  "Who dat?" she asked, pointing.

            "That's Blaise Zambini."

            "Dat?"

"Professor Snape."

"An' dat?"

"Ja. . ." Draco trailed off.  "Does the map show dead people?"

"No, only Peeves," Sirius said.  "Why?"

Draco set the map on the table and pointed.  Pacing a small room on the third floor, there was a dot labeled _James Potter_.

Ooh, cliffhanger again!  Don't fret, as we speak I'm almost done handwriting the next chapter.  All I'll have to do is type it up, and bada-bing, bada-boom, the next installment is here.

However, I will warn you, from now on, the story will get decidedly darker.  There will be at least one, probably more, character death(s).  Getting to James won't be as easy as they think it is, and what happened to Noko's daddy will come back into play.  Suicidal boy's father is putting his plan into action.  It's already gotten started.

And I will not tell you who Fred was snogging in the rosebushes, but yes, it was Fred, not George or Lee.

Still no picture of Noko?  ~sigh~  I was hoping someone could draw better then me.

~Crawler


	9. Only Noko heard

Okay, just FYI, James is on the FIRST floor, not the third, like I said earlier, I think.  Sorry about that.  A lot of stuff comes out in this chapter, quite a bit of it is important.

Today I say the perfect human Noko.  She was a young woman, tiny and very perky, with shoulder length curly hair.  Just something about her, how she looked and moved, it screamed NOKO to me.  She was playing in a basketball game for a charity, and I didn't catch her name, so I called her Noko the whole game.  My brother, who sat next to me, kept groaning and saying "She's not Noko!  Stop calling her that!"  Honestly, if Noko grew up, dyed her hair a brown-blond, and had plastic surgery to turn her completely human, she'd look like this lady.

No deaths this chapter, but there will be one next chapter, I promise.

And Remus and Sirius are safe from death, for now, so don't worry.

**_Wolf-Child_**

            Noko tugged on Draco's sleeve.  "Dayco, who dat?" she whined.

            "James Potter, Harry's dad."

            "Hawwy daddy?"

            "Yes, Hawwy. . . Harry's daddy."

            Sirius grabbed the map and hurried off.  The others followed him.  Draco hung back, feeling acutely out of place.  Sirius led them through the castle, going upstairs, downstairs, turning left, and turning right.  Eventually Remus took the map, turned around, led them down a corridor, and stopped.

            "According to the map, James is behind this wall."

            Harry touched the wall and frowned.  Other than the faint red residue from second year, when Ginny painted those frightening words here, the wall looked quite ordinary.

            "Try shouting?" Ron asked.  "Maybe he can hear us."

            They started shouting and banging on the wall.  Moaning Myrtle poked her head out from her bathroom and watched.

            Draco stopped yelling.  "Does anyone else feel right stupid doing this, or is it just me?" he asked.

            "Remus shook his head.  "It's not just you.  This isn't getting us anywhere."

            "What's with all the noise?"  Fred and George climbed out from behind a tapestry, dusting their robes off.  "Did someone die?"

            Harry shook his head dejectedly.  "No, not die.  Rather, we learned that my dad's alive, and behind this wall, be we can't get through to him."

            "Boys," Sirius said abruptly, "you need practice.  Why don't you see where this hole leads."  He pointed to a hole in the corner large enough for a cat to get into.  The twins grinned.  Without a sound, they transformed into twin raccoons and scampered into the hole.

            "Since when have they been Animagi!?!" Ron cried, indignant.

            "Actually, only since yesterday," Sirius admitted.  "But I've been giving them extra lessons since the beginning of the year."

            "Why!?"

            "They have their reasons, which they've explained to McGonagall and me, and we agreed with them.  However, McGonagall refused to teach anyone how to become unregistered Animagi, so they came to me."

            "But didn't it take you years to learn?" Hermione asked.

            "I didn't have a teacher who knew what he was doing."

            "So it's true then!"  The ghost of a young woman came through the wall in front of them.  "It is _Professor_ Black now!"  She laughed.  "Now, Professor _Lupin_ was expected, was undeniable, but Professor _Black_!?  What do you teach, pranks?  Troublemaking?  Flirting?"

            "Hello to you too, Lily," Sirius grinned.

            Lily kissed Sirius on the nose and wrapped her arms around Remus in an icy hug.  "Now where is . . . my goodness!  Harry?  You _have_ grown!"  Lily's smile was sad as she floated over to Harry.  She reached out to smooth his hair with one ghostly hand and traced his face.  "You do look so much like James . . ."

            "Speaking of James," Draco interrupted, "is he on the other side of the wall or not?"

            Lily turned to him.  "And who, may I ask, are you?  No, don't tell me, let me guess.  Slytherin badge, pointed face, pale coloring, and those odd grey eyes . . . you must be Lucius Malfoy's son."

            Draco bowed slightly.  "Yes, I am known as Lucius Malfoy's son, but I prefer my own name, Draco."  His tone was harsh and cold, very unfriendly.  Lily raised an eyebrow in mild surprise.

            "Why, I do believe you're a black sheep!  No wonder you're Harry's friend!  Yes, James is back there," she looked at Sirius, "alive, but bored out of his mind."

            Fred and George slipped back through the hole and straightened up, humans once again.

            "James has messages for some of you, and we quote . . ."

            "Sirius, _stop beating yourself up!_  I don't blame you for what Wormtail did!  However, if you still feel like you owe me something, I'd worship you if you could get me a plate of those chocolate éclairs from the kitchens."

            "Remus, if he continues to be a stubborn git, you just let me know.  I bet I can still kick his ass."

            "Harry, I've often imagined what I'd say to you, if given the chance, but now I don't know what to say.  Maybe when I finally see you again, it'll all come back."

            "Uh, that's all we remember.  HE said something about not wanting to trust Malfoy and congratulated us on our Animagi forms."

            "He also hopes we get him out soon."

            Lily clapped her hands together.  "Well then, it's settled.  You all go to Dumbledore and get his help.  I'll keep James company until you get him out."  She passed back through the wall before anyone else could talk.

            "Lily's right," Remus stated.  "We should get Dumbledore's help to get through this wall."

            "For someone who just learned your long-dead friend is really alive, you seem awfully calm," Ron said.

            "I don't think it's quite registered yet," Remus said.  "But I think Harry and Sirius are stunned."

            Noko led the way to the Great Hall, where students were eating dinner.  Dumbledore was standing and waiting for the noise to stop.

            "Teachers and pupils, Hagrid has informed me of a disease that is rapidly spreading through the Forbidden Forest.  IT has already jumped the species barrier many times.  Once the disease shows itself, the sick creature only has several hours to live.  Because of this, the forest and surrounding grounds are strictly _forbidden_ to all.  No human has been infected yet, but we do not want to take that chance.  If you are caught near the forest, the punishments will be severe.  If you see anyone showing the symptoms, such as vomiting, dizziness, fever, spasms, or inability to drink, get a professor immediately."  There was no twinkle in his eye as he surveyed the quiet hall.  "Please use extreme caution.  Don't risk your life or the lives of others just to break the rules."  His eyes lingered over the twins for a moment before he spread his hands.  "Continue eating."

            "That was cheerful," Draco muttered.  Hermione smacked him upside the head as they went up to talk to Dumbledore.

            "How may I help you?" Dumbledore asked as they approached.  They all tried talking at once.  Dumbledore held up his hand and pointed at Remus.  "You explain."

            "Headmaster, we've found the ghost of Lily Potter and James Potter.  James is alive, but he's trapped behind a wall.  We can't get him out and were hoping you could help."

            Dumbledore smiled tiredly.  "The last thing Hogwarts needs right now is an epidemic.  Maybe James resurfacing is a good omen."

            "Or maybe him being stuck is a bad one," Draco whispered into Noko's hair.

Is this a better place to stop?  I seem to be on a roll here, and I'm sorry for that time I didn't update for 2 weeks!  Expect a new chapter up tomorrow too.  If I don't get it up, feel free to thwap me.

~Crawler


	10. Turns out Draco was right

Well, I promised you a Friday update, and you got a Friday update.  Like I said last time, there is a character death, but it's not a main character.  Um, I don't think there's anything else I wanted to say. . .  wait, yes there was.  I may be needing names for students soon.  If you want to contribute names for the story, give first and last names, boy or girl (sometimes they aren't what they seem), house, year, and anything special about them.  I won't accept any Head Girls or Head Boys, however, I will accept four prefects for each house, two girls, two boys.  Draco is already a Slytherin prefect, and Hermione is a Gryffindor one, so that takes those counts down.

Quidditch positions are good too, but keep it with the book.  I don't want five Ravenclaw seekers, not counting Cho, or more then one person for each of the seven positions for each house.  I'm saying the only free Gryffindor team slot is Keeper, but I might put Ron in there.  Ravenclaw seeker is Cho, Slytherin is Draco.  Other than that, everything's open, I think.

Have fun!

****

**_Wolf-Child_**

            Dumbledore examined the wall James was stuck behind and had a nice conversation with him via Lily, but made no progress in getting him out.  Sirius sent James a plate of éclairs via Dobby.  Harry spent all his free time by the wall with Noko, talking to his parents.  Draco spent a lot of his free time at the wall too, making sure Noko didn't get stuck in the hole when Harry ignored her.  Fred and George were the heads of a group of students and teachers put together to figure out how to free James, but they weren't having any luck either.

            Meanwhile, the disease was running rampant through the forest.  Care of Magical Creatures was moved inside and Quidditch was temporarily cancelled after an ill hippogriff chased Draco around the field in the middle of a game before dropping dead.

            Draco woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of someone vomiting.  Looking around, he saw Terence Nott losing his dinner in his bed.  Draco got up and brought Terence a glass of water, but Terence couldn't dink it.  Draco transfigured the glass into a large bowl, which Terence accepted gratefully.  Draco rubbed Terence's back soothingly, unsure of what else he could do.

            Even through Terence's pajamas, Draco could feel the other boy was burning up.  Occasionally a spasm would wrack his body.

            Draco froze.  Spasms, fever, vomiting, inability to drink . . . all these were signs of the forest disease.  Draco left Terence and moved to Blaise Zambini, shaking him awake.

            "Mmm, wha's wrong Dray?" he asked in a sleep-slurred voice.

            "Blaise, start waking people up and help me get them to the Great Hall!  Terence has the forest disease, we can't stay here!  It's not safe!'

            The note of urgency in Draco's voice woke Blaise up.  He rolled out of bed and padded over to Crabbe.  "Wake up, wake up!  You have to get out of here!"

            Before too long, all of Slytherin House, except Terence, was standing in the Great Hall, shivering and scared.  Most of them had no idea what was going on, but they all knew that if a Malfoy looked ruffled, it was bad.

            "Now what?" Blaise asked Draco quietly.

            "I'm not sure," he whispered back.  "Do you know where Dumbledore's office is?"

            "No idea.  Snape?"

            "I guess.  Let's go."

            As they left the Great Hall, they ran into Professor McGonagall.  "Boys!  What do you think you're doing out of bed?"  She frowned down at them.  Before she could punish them, Draco interrupted, speaking quickly.

            "Professor, Terence Nott is sick with the forest disease.  We were told to get the students as far away from the sick student as possible, so we brought Slytherin House to the Great Hall.  We were just looking for a professor."

            "Nott is sick with the forest disease?"

            "Yes Ma'am."

            "You did the right thing then.  Get back to the Hall."

            The boys obeyed.  A few minutes later, Professor McGonagall's magically magnified voice echoed through the castle.

            "ALL STUDENTS AND STAFF REPORT TO THE GREAT HALL IMMEDIATELY."

            Harry was jolted out of bed by McGonagall's voice.  He parted his curtains and looked around.  "What's going on?" he asked.  Ron shrugged.

            "We should probably get to the Great Hall though."

            The common room was packed as students poured from their dormitories.  The stairs were even worse.  Eventually Ron and Harry made it into the Hall.  Noko wriggled her way through the crowd, Hermione close behind.  Noko had been sleeping in Hermione's dorm for a while now.

            "Mione!"  Ron hugged her as Noko wrapped herself around Harry's legs.  "You're a prefect; do you know what's going on?"

            Hermione shook her head.  "No one seems to know!  The teachers aren't telling us anything, but it's rumored that Dumbledore went down to the Slytherin dungeons."

            "Slyrin?" Noko asked, worried.  "Dayco?"  She gasped, clapping her hands to her face.  "Dayco owwied!"  She ran back into the crowd, working herself into a frenzy.  "Dayco!  Dayco!  Dayco, where you!?!"  She felt herself be caught up in a pair of arms.  "Dayco!  You 'k?"

            Draco hugged her tightly.  "Yes Noko, I'm okay."

            Harry, Ron, and Hermione jogged up.  "Noko, don't run away like that!" Harry scolded her.

            Hermione tapped her chin.  "Draco, you're a Slytherin prefect.  Do you know what's going on?"

            Draco nodded.  "Terence Nott is sick with the forest disease."

            "No!" Hermione gasped.

            "Yes."

            Dumbledore walked in and whispered something to Madame Pomfrey.  She covered her face with her hands and nodded.  Draco shoved Noko into Harry's arms and hurried over to Dumbledore.

            "Headmaster, will Nott be all right?"

            Dumbledore looked sadly at Draco.  "I'm afraid Mr. Nott passed away.  There was nothing we could do for him but ease his pain."

            Draco was stunned.  It wasn't that Terence had been a friend; actually, Draco really couldn't tolerate him for long.  He was shocked more because he had just been rubbing Terence's back less then half an hour ago, and now Terence was dead.

            "All students, please move to the front of the Hall.  A student has died from the forest disease."  Dumbledore waited for a moment before quelling the panicked voices.  "When we first learned of this disease, Madame Pomfrey and Professor Snape concocted a way to test for it, even if you have no symptoms.  The professors will circulate through the Hall and administer the test.  If it turns red, you are fine, if white, you have the disease.  Once you have received the test, move to the other end of the hall.  Please remain orderly and calm."  Dumbledore picked up a small bag and strode into the press of students.

            "Here Mr. Potter, one for you.  One for you, Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley.  Oh, and here's one for the puppy."  Madame Pomfrey handed them each a small black disc about half the size of a snitch.  "Put it on your tongue and hold it in your mouth for about a minute, then take it out and look at the color.  No move to the other side of the Hall and mind you don't swallow it."

            Harry shrugged and popped the disc in his mouth.  The others did the same, then sat at the far end of the Hufflepuff table.  A minute later, they all spat out their discs.  None of them were white.

            "Well, that's a relief," Hermione smiled.  Draco nodded and toyed with his disc absently.  Noko bit hers and made a face.

            "Ucky."

            "You're not supposed to eat it, puppy."  Harry took the disc away from her.

            Fred and George walked over, obviously holding discs of their own in their mouths.  Fred grunted something and waved his hands at them.

            "We're all red," Ron said.  "What about you?"

            Fred spat his out.

"Red."

            George pulled his out.

"White."

Ooh, I'm so nasty, aren't I?  Don't expect another update until maybe Monday.  I work best when I'm writing this at school, for some reason.  However, the next few chapters are planned out.  You can ask my brother, he's heard me tell him them.  However, nothing's written down yet.

~Crawler


	11. If only Flitwick hadn't come in just the...

Well, I got some news.  First off, here's the promised Monday update.  However, now I'm rushing to finish The Two Towers before I see it Wed. at 3:30, so you might not get another update for a little while.

HOWEVER, I do have the rest of the story planned out, so it should be finished soon.  I'm seeing about two more chapters.

Sadly, Draco/Harry moments will be very few.  Noko will have a lesser role, and Blaise Zambini will do a bunch more.  He's my favorite fanon canon character.  I read him portrayed this way once before and just adored it.

The story will end with a bit of a cliffhanger though.  I'll do what Rowling did and tell you the last word.

Beginning.

There will be a sequel, maybe, if I figure out what's going to happen.

****

**_Wolf-Child_**

            As they all stared in silence, someone placed another white disc in front of Draco.  Turning around, he saw Blaise Zambini behind him with a worried expression on his face.

            "You too?" Draco whispered.

            "Yeah.  Your dad?"

            "I think so."

            Blaise shook his head sadly.  "Think you could owl him before . . ." He trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence, but Draco knew what he was going to say.  '. . . before I die."

            "I'm sure I can."

            "But will he do anything?"

            "I'll make him understand why it's important."

            Noko licked her nose as she listened to this hushed conversation.  She blinked, startled by this new discovery, and licked her nose again.  Giggling, she tugged on Harry's robes and showed him how she could lick her nose.  Harry hugged her.

            No one else even noticed Blaise was there.

            Lucius Malfoy hurried through the halls of the Ministry of Magic, shoving unfortunate witches and wizards out of his away.  He could already hear the shouts coming from Fudge's office.

            "MY SON IS DEAD!  I WANT JUSTICE!"

            "Now, now, Mr. Nott, please calm down. . ."

            "CALM DOWN?  CALM DOWN?  _MY SON IS DEAD_!!  CAN YOU NOT HEAR ME?  WHY ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH WOULD I WANT TO _CALM DOWN_?"

            Lucius smiled.  Nott always was such an actor.  He was able to slip through the door without Fudge noticing him.  Of course, that may have been because Nott was practically strangling Fudge, so he was a bit preoccupied.  Lucius stood behind Fudge's shoulder and cleared his throat when Nott paused for breath.  Fudge jumped and spun around, not sure if he should be relieved or frightened to see Lucius.  True, the man was _extremely_ generous with his riches, but there was something about the way he just showed up out of nowhere, even without the _pop _of Apparation and always had that little smirk on his face that was just scary.

            "Ah, Lucius!  Hello!  I'm afraid I'm a bit busy here. . ."  Fudge trailed off, sparing a quick glance at Nott.  The man was practically foaming at the mouth, but had quieted down.

            "I couldn't help but overhear, Cornelius.  I wanted to talk to you about the same issue."

            "You've heard about it too?  But how?  We've managed to keep it hushed up!  Not even Rita Skeeter knows anything yet!"

            Lucius snapped his fingers and a piece of paper appeared in his hand.  "I do have a son at Hogwarts, Cornelius, and he keeps me up to date with the important events.  He was the one who comforted young Master Nott in his last hours, according to his letter."  Lucius presented the letter to Cornelius to read and turned to Nott.  "Dear Mr. Nott, I'm so sorry for what happened to your son.  I know that if my Draco was the one struck with this devastating illness, I too would be in here demanding justice while nursing a broken heart.  I've actually come here to try to help in assuring justice."

            Cornelius finished reading the letter (A fine imitation of his son's hand, Lucius thought) and looked up.  "Assuring justice?  But how?  It's a disease!  You can't take it to prison or anything like that!"

            Lucius nodded, a sad expression on his face.  (Another excellent imitation)  "I know that, Cornelius.  I was thinking perhaps the three of us could visit Dumbledore.  Perhaps we could come up with some form of compensation, although it will never replace Terence."

            Mr. Nott blew his nose loudly, and Fudge hung his head.  "Yes, yes, of course.  Thank you, Lucius, for suggesting that.  Come along, I'm sure we can catch the Knight Bus to Hogwarts.  That would be the fastest way, unless you'd like to fly . . ."  The disdainful look on Lucius' face was enough to discourage flying.  Lucius Malfoy, straddling a broom, in _these_ robes?  Fudge had to be joking.  These robes were designer robes, not cheap Madame Malkin ones.  "Then again, maybe not.  Alright, Knight Bus it is."

            The three men were rushed to Hogwarts immediately.  Lucius swept in through the huge doors, fully aware of the imposing figure he made with his robes swirling around him.  The other two men seemed struck dumb at the sight of such magnificence, so they followed him meekly.  Lucius strode over to Dumbledore's gargoyle before he reached a slight hitch in his plans.  _He didn't know the password!_  Just then, the gargoyle leapt aside and a tired Madame Pomfrey exited, with Dumbledore right behind her.

            "Poppy, do get some rest.  You're exhausted, and the students are going to need you.  Sleep.  Everything is fine for now."

            Lucius inclined his head slightly to the left, and Nott set off ranting again.  "FINE?  EVERYTHING IS FINE?  MY SON IS _DEAD_!  HOW CAN THAT BE FINE?"

            Dumbledore surveyed them before sighing and waving Madame Pomfrey off.  "Gentlemen, why don't you step into my office."

            "Now, I can guess what brings you here this morning.  You have heard of our sad experience last night. . ."  Nott honked into a handkerchief.

            "Headmaster," Lucius began.  "Perhaps the situation has gone out of your control.  While this horrible disease only infected beasts of the forest, it was fine, but now that it has killed a student. . ." he let himself trail off, letting Dumbledore fill in the blanks for himself.  "Perhaps you should step down.  Like I said before, three years ago, it is quite possible you simply. . . cannot control things here as well as they should be."

            "Perhaps you are right," Dumbledore said softly.  Lucius inclined his head slightly, looking smug, and Nott started raving again.

"MY SON IS DEAD, DUMBLEDORE!    YOUR HEADMASTER SKILLS WERE UNABLE TO SAVE MY TERENCE!  HOW CAN YOU CALL YOURSELF A GOOD HEADMASTER IF YOU COULDN'T EVEN SAVE MY BOY?"

Professor Flitwick ran into the office just then.  "Dumbledore," he gasped, "another student, Mandy Brocklehurst was found dead in her bed!  Padma Patil told me that Mandy's disc was white last night!"

Dumbledore closed his eyes and wished that when he opened them, he would discover that Flitwick hadn't really just run into the room with that information.  He opened his eyes.  No such luck.

"DUMBLEDORE, YOUR INCOMPETENCE HAS CLAIMED ANOTHER LIFE!  HOW DARE YOU CALL YOURSELF A SUITABLE HEADMASTER?  I DEMAND YOU STEP DOWN FROM YOUR POSTION OF AUTHORITY AT ONCE BEFORE YOUR BUMBLING ANTICS KILL AGAIN!"

My, my, for such a frail-looking guy, Nott did have an impressive set of lungs, Lucius decided.  He pointed his wand at Fudge under his cloak and whispered "_Imperio._"

"Dumbledore, I have to agree with Nott, although I wouldn't have used those words.  Two students dead in less than twenty-four hours, perhaps it is best for you to step down. . ."

"It's a disease, Cornelius.  There is nothing I, nor anyone else, can do until a cure is discovered.  Madame Pomfrey and Professor Snape are working to create such a cure, but until then, _there is nothing anyone can do_."

Flitwick nodded his head.  "Yes, I quite agree with Dumbledore.  And with You-Know-Who's. . ." at Dumbledore's look he quickly amended, "Voldemort's return, Dumbledore needs to remain at Hogwarts to ensure the protection of the students."

"This fluff about You-Know-Who's return is ridiculous, Dumbledore.  I'm ashamed at you for believing it, but it's even worse that you have your staff preaching it too.  There has been no reason to believe You-Know-Who has come back.  Like I said before, he is _dead_.  There is no spell that can resurrect the dead.  However, if we do sack you, we'd need a powerful wizard to take your place . . . Lucius?  What about you?"

            Lucius looked startled.  "Me?  As headmaster of Hogwarts?"  Inwardly, Dumbledore flinched at the idea.  He knew Lucius was plotting something, and Fudge was playing right into his hands.  Even in his school days, Lucius had been far more dastardly than Draco.  Of course, that may be because the Marauders, only a year younger then him, were constantly harassing him.  He shook himself out of his memories.  ". . . quite difficult, seeing as how I've never been properly trained to be a headmaster, or even a professor, for that matter, however, I must think of the students.  I would not want Draco, or any of his peers, to have their lives put at risk due to a weak headmaster.  I would accept such a position, if given the chance, but only temporarily, until a better headmaster is found."

            Fudge smiled tiredly.  "Dumbledore, I hope you understand, this is for the better.  The safety of the children is at stake.  I'll have to talk with the board members, but I'm afraid Lucius will temporarily take over your position.  I'm sorry."

            Dumbledore nodded and stood.  "I do understand.  You will be going now then?"

            Hiding outside the office, Blaise hurried off to wake Draco.

            Lucius was getting ready to leave when he heard Draco calling him.  "Father, Father, wait, please!  I need to talk to you!  It's urgent!"  Lucius groaned inwardly and waved Fudge and Nott off.

            "What _is_ it, Draco?  I'm busy."

            Draco ran up to Lucius and stopped, taking a moment to compose himself.  "Father, I need to know.  Was the shot you gave me when I got the Dark Mark a vaccine for this disease?"

            "Yes.  Is that all you wanted to know?"

            "No!  No, Father, my friend, Blaise Zambini, is ill.  According to the test Madame Pomfrey gave him, he has this disease.  Father, I don't want him to die.  Is there a cure?"

            Lucius sighed.  "How many times must I tell you, friends are a weakness.  The younger Zambini should die.  It would be no less then he deserves, if he's anything like his father."

            "Father," Draco said determedly.  "Blaise has worked very hard to have a decent reputation in _all_ the Hogwarts houses.  While that may not seem much of an accomplishment, think of it this way.  If you save Blaise's life, Blaise will support you in your plan for world domination.  If he supports you, it is more likely that the other houses won't frown on you and try to kick you out.  They would give you a chance.  That's how influential Blaise is.  It's good to have him on your side."

            Lucius frowned.  "Draco, I do not like this assertiveness in you, not towards me."

            Draco immediately lowered his eyes in submission.  "My apologies, Father.  It won't happen again."

            "It had better not."  Lucius glared at Draco suspiciously.  "This Zambini, is he truly as influential as you make him out to be?"

            "Father, I would never dare lie to you."

            Lucius frowned, removing a vial from his cloak and thrusting it at Draco.  "Very well.  Take it and be gone."

            "Thank you, Father.  You will not regret this, I assure you."

            Lucius sneered at Draco and swept off.  Blaise gingerly crawled out of the bushes he was hiding in.  Draco handed him the vial.  "Take it a drink it."

            "Draco. . ."

            "Just drink it already!" Draco groaned.

            "But George . . ."

            "What about him?"

            "George is sick too.  If I drink this, he'll die."

            "And if he drinks it, you die.  If you die and he doesn't, my father will kill me."

            Blaise frowned.  "But we must be able to do something."

            "We couldn't, even if we wanted to."

            "_I_ want to," Blaise pouted.

            "_I_ don't," Draco replied.  "I see no reason why we should save that marauding prankster.  Serves him right."

            Blaise huffed.  "Well, if you won't save him for me, save him for Harry."

            "_Harry_!?!" Draco cried.  "Why Harry?"

            Blaise grinned wickedly.  "You have a huge crush on him, I see it every time you look at him.  And, the Weasleys are Harry's favorite family.  George is a Weasley.  Save George, and Harry will be happy, thus putting you in his good graces."

            Draco smacked Blaise and started off for the castle.  Blaise hurried to catch up with him.

            "You didn't deny it!  Draco, I'm telling you, I can read you like an open book!"

            "You're a demon, Blaise Zambini."

            "I prefer the term "head vampire of the living dead," thank you very much," Blaise smirked.

            "You have what, a drop of vampiric blood in your veins?  That's not enough!"

            "It gives me fangs if I want them."  Blaise hissed, revealing his fangs to Draco.

            "Fangs which are completely useless," Draco reminded him.

            Blaise groaned.  "Okay, how about this.  Let's drop the topics of Harry crushes, George saving, and my vampiric blood.  How would you feel if Harry got sick?  Lucius certainly isn't about to shell out the cure for him."

            Draco paused mid-step.  "But there isn't anything we can do," he whispered.

            "Of course there is.  Don't you pay attention in Potions?"

            "No.  Snape gives me a good grade because I have a knack for concocting them.  I never listen to their histories."

            "Ah, so the truth behind Snape's Golden Boy is finally revealed!  Anyway, the other day, Snape taught us about taking a completed potion and working backwards to create the recipe."

            "It can't be that simple."

            "You're right, as usual.  It's not.  In order for us to even have some margin of success, it would take at least three intelligent wizards of our experience."

            "And no other Slytherin even has half a brain cell to rub together, unless you know of one I don't."

            "Well, maybe not a Slytherin. . ."

            "No."

            "Yes."

            "Not that Mudblood!"

            Blaise scowled.  "Stop calling her a Mudblood.  You know I hate that term.  I'm a Mudblood too, remember?"

            "You're not a Mudblood.  Your parents aren't muggles."

            "My dad's are though."  Blaise glared at Draco.

            Draco glared back half-heartedly before giving in.  "Fine.  I won't use the term "Mudblood" any more.  Happy?"

            "Yes, thank you.  Now about Granger. . ."

            "No."

            "Yes!"

            "No!"

            "Yes!"

            "No!"

            "Uh, Granger?  Can we talk to you?"

            Hermione turned around to see Blaise and Draco standing there.  Blaise had a triumphant smirk on his face and Draco was looking a bit sheepish.

            "Um, I guess. . . Harry, Ron, wait a minute!" she called over her shoulder.  "What did you need?"

            "Alone," Draco growled, sheepish look gone, as he sneered at Ron over Hermione's shoulder.

            "Hell no!" Ron cried.  "You'll try to kill her or something!" He was trying to tolerate Draco for Noko's sake, but he could only go so far.  There was no way he'd let Hermione go alone with two Slytherins.

            "We're not going to kill he, Weasel, we need her alive.  Now bug off."

            "You've got to be insane if you think I'll let you get her alone, two on one!"

            "Weasel, I'll . . ."

            Blaise laid a restraining hand on Draco's shoulder.  "We don't have time for this.  Leave it to me," he whispered.  He stepped forward and gestured for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to step close.  Taking a deep breath, Blaise called upon the ancient traces of vampire blood in his linage to dim the lights and make himself seem as menacing as possible.  "Since you've insisted on complaining, all three of you are now recruited to help us.  What we will do must remain completely confidential.  If you dare breathe a word about this to _anyone_ you will be dead.  Oh, but it won't be pleasant, no, not at all.  You will become one of my undead minions."  Here Blaise smiled showing his fangs.  Only Draco knew they were not functional.  "Do you understand what I'm saying?  An eternity of torment if you squeal."  He stepped back and the lights flared up again.

            Draco was impressed.  Blaise did have a way of spellbinding his audience, all three of whom were wide-eyed with fright.  Blaise just _had_ to teach him that light dimming trick!

            "Are we doing anything illegal?" Hermione asked meekly.

            "Illegal?  Oh, not yet, but it will be soon, once Lucius seizes power."

            "Lucius is going to seize power?" Harry gasped.

            "Yeah, and it's up to us to save the world as we know it."  Draco was only a little sarcastic.  "Now first, we need a safe place where we won't be interrupted, ever. . . Potter.  Second year, Chamber of Secrets.  You rescued the little Weasel girl.  Did you find the chamber?"

            "Her name's Ginny, and yes, I found it."

            "Great," Draco said.  "We can work there."

            "We'll get stuck down there!"

            "How'd you get out?"

            "Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix."

            "A phoenix?  Blaise, you have Richter, don't you?"

            "Richter?  Yeah, I do."

            "Great.  Summon him.  Harry, lead the way to the Chamber of Secrets."

            "I don't know if this is such a good idea. . ."

            "Would you rather your brother die, Weasel?  We're saving lives here.  Don't complain, just start walking."

My brother pointed out the Chamber is the only place no one _could_ interrupt them, except maybe Ginny, but she'd never want to go back there again.  They needed a secret place, and they needed to use Myrtle's bathroom, so that's why the Chamber was chosen.

Oh, in case you can't tell, Draco and Blaise are changing to the side of their own.  Their motto?  Support no one.  Do they stick to it?  Nope.

~Crawler


	12. Aren't red gleams signs of evil, like Mo...

There's a Draco/Harry scene in here I never intended to write, and something happens to George, and there's child abuse, both written and implied.

Oh, and Noko nearly drowns in the Chamber because she's just a puppy and didn't know better, but that's not really important.

I DON'T OWN IT.

Thought I should put that in again!

Sorry for the wait.

**_Wolf-Child_**

            Richter turned out to be a phoenix.  An elderly, spindly, sickly-looking thing.  They had to stop by the Slytherin dorms for Blaise to get him.  Harry eyed the bird warily.

            "Uh, Zambini?  You sure that thing can carry us all?'

            Richter croaked and fell over.  Blaise hauled him up and threw him over his shoulder like a sack.  "Richter?  Yeah.  Don't let his looks fool you, they're just side-effects of all the enhancement spells he's got on him."  Richter squawked and flapped his wings feebly against Blaise's back.

            "Enhancement spells?  That bird has enhancement spells on him?"  Harry still couldn't believe this bird could do what Fawkes had.  "He looks dead!"

            Blaise sighed and dropped him.  Richter made a snorting sound and curled up.  "Nope, only asleep.  Are we going to the Chamber or not?"

            The Gryffindors were horrified by Blaise's treatment of Richter, but Draco was used to it.  He'd seen what Richter could do and didn't doubt him for a moment.

            As they drew closer to Myrtle's bathroom, the strange group was stopped by the Hufflepuff quidditch team.  One of the chasers, Sara Appleblossom, stepped forward, a solemn look on her face.  "We are sorry to hear of Gryffindor's loss.  George Weasley was a fine beater.  Quidditch won't be the same without him whacking Bludgers our way."

            Melissa Jonaheart, a new beater this year, shook her head sadly.  "George was my idol, well, one of them.  To play against him would have been the crowning achievement of my quidditch career.  It's such a shame he has passed on."

            Ron looked at Harry with a perplexed expression on his face.  Harry shrugged, and the group snuck past the solemn Hufflepuffs without them knowing.

            "Hufflepuffs are such a load of duffers," Draco said, as soon as they were out of earshot.

            "That's mean!" Hermione cried, coming to their defense.

            "Granger, they don't even know they're talking to air.  Explain that."

            Hermione didn't have anything to say to that.

            Once inside Myrtle's bathroom, Harry told everyone to step back, and someone to hold Noko.  He went up to the tap with the snake engraving on it and hissed, _Open up_.  The sink sunk into the floor, revealing the entrance to the Chamber once again.  Draco was looking at him kind of funny.

            "What's wrong?" Harry asked.

            "I would kill to speak like that," Draco responded, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.  "Unfortunately, Parseltongue isn't something you can learn."

            "Oh."  Draco's staring was starting to make Harry uncomfortable.  "Okay.  Um, all you have to do is slide down this pipe, but it's really dirty and slimy.  Are you sure you still want to do this?"

            "Are you kidding me?" Blaise asked, incredulous.  "The chance to be in the chamber that Salazar Slytherin himself made, years ago?  What type of decent Slytherin _wouldn't_ want to go there, slimy or not!?"  He sat at the top of the pipe and turned to Draco.  "If this turns out badly, you can kill them."  Making sure he had a firm grip on Richter, Blaise pushed himself down the pipe.  A moment later, they heard a thump.

            "Are you okay!?" Draco called down the pipe.

            "Yeah!  Come on down!  Remember what I just said about Slytherins wanting to be down here!?" Blaise called back.

            "Yes!"

            "I TAKE IT BACK!"

            There was a squish, and an "Eww!"  Harry, Ron, and Hermione doubled over laughing.  Draco had a mildly disgusted look on his face, and Noko ran to the pipe.  "Baze go down da hole!" she cried.  "Noko go down da hole too!"  With an excited bark, she leapt in, face first.

            "BLAISE!  INCOMING!" Draco screamed, running after Noko, but stopping short of the pipe.

            "What?" Blaise cried back.  "Oh shi . . . NO!"

            There was a thump, a crunch, and more silence.  Myrtle chose that moment to float through Draco.  He jumped, and fell into the hole.  "They're awfully loud," Myrtle stated.  "They shouldn't be in here, they're boys."

            Hermione groaned quietly.  "Myrtle, Harry and Ron are boys too, but you let them be in here without complaining."

            "Harry's different," Myrtle sniffed.  "I like him."

            Harry groaned and leapt into the pipe.  Ron and Hermione, not wanting Harry to be alone with two Slytherins, nor wanting to be alone with Myrtle, followed him.  The sight they encountered was a strange one.  Draco was sitting in a pile of slime, Harry on his lap.  Noko was sprawled across Blaise's chest, and Blaise was half-buried under rodent skeletons, trying not to scream in disgust.  Hermione landed on Ron's back and pushed him face first into a puddle of filthy water.

            "This is pleasant," Draco purred, wrapping his arms around Harry's chest.  "I could almost forget about the slime I'm sitting in."

            Harry turned redder then Ron's hair and tried to get up, but Draco held him down.  Hermione blushed too and pulled Ron off, busying herself with cleaning off his face.  Noko yawned and kicked one of her legs.  Blaise freed an arm and poked at her.  "I think she's asleep."

            Noko leapt up, giggling.  "Noko fell down da hole, and fell on Baze!  An Hawwy fell on Dayco, and," here she stopped and pretended to read a book, her symbol for Hermione.  She had long given up on trying to pronounce her name.  "fell on On!"

            "Draco!" Ron yelled.  "Stop molesting Harry!  I've got my eye on you!"

            "I'd prefer to molest Harry," Draco muttered.  Harry elbowed him lightly and wriggled free.

            "It's okay Ron, he didn't hurt me."  Harry picked Noko up.  Draco offered a hand to Blaise, who took it gratefully.  Richter was found crushed under Blaise, fast asleep again.

            "The bird's an idiot," Blaise muttered, slinging Richter over his shoulder again.

            "If you hate him so much, why do you put up with him?" Ron asked, poking Richter.  "He doesn't look like much."

            Blaise rolled his eyes.  "If you must know, Richter here has earned Moldy's favor.  Moldy won't let anyone harm Richter, and has entrusted my family to keep him safe.  I think he thinks the core of his wand came from Richter's tail."

            "Moldy?" Hermione asked.  "Who would go by the name Moldy?"

            Draco grinned wickedly.  "Oh, he doesn't know we call him Moldy.  Moldy-Voldy, that's our name for Lord Voldemort, heir of Slytherin and all that fun jazz.  Makes him sound so much less menacing.  Who can be scared of someone known as Moldy?"

            Harry blinked.  "Oh, thanks a lot, Malfoy.  Now every time I'm in a life or death situation against Voldemort, instead of thinking of different spells and curses that could be helpful, all that will come to my mind is the nickname "Moldy-Voldy.""

            Draco wrapped himself around Harry.  "Glad to be of service!"

            Harry pushed Draco off.  "What is it with you?  First you've gotten all nice to us, and now you're clingy!"

            Draco looked hurt.  "What, you don't like it?  I can go back to be the sardonic little menace, if that's what you'd like."

            Harry shook his head.  "No, I like you being nice, just not clingy."

            "Harry?  How do we get past this?"  Ron and Hermione had encountered the snake doors.  Harry hissed at it, and it opened.  The group stepped inside and looked around.

            Water dripped from the ceiling as a general sense of evil and death wrapped around them.  The scent of decaying flesh assaulted their noses.

            "Welcome to the Chamber," Harry said after a while, when the silence became unnerving.

            "Was it this bad when you came down here before?" Blaise asked, wrinkling his nose.

            "No, before there wasn't a giant serpent rotting," Harry answered.

            "_Neithan_!" Hermione cried, waving her wand.  The smell of the rotting basilisk dissipated, leaving an old musty smell.  "There, that's better."

            "Thanks Hermione," Ron said, hugging her.  "That _is_ much better."

            Draco waved his wand and cleaned a portion of the floor to sit on.  He pulled the vial of the antidote out of his robes.  Blaise settled down beside him and set up a cauldron.  Hermione pulled a small box out of her pocket, enlarged it, and started pulling out various vials and flasks of different substances.  Harry set Noko down and joined Ron on the floor.

            "So, how do we begin?"

            Several days later, the only thing the group had achieved was rescuing Noko when she fell into a deep pool of water.  After that, she stayed with her "Nuncles," Fred, George, and Lee.  Progress was slow with the antidote.

            "Oh, wait, Harry, do that again!"  Hermione leaned forward excitedly as Harry repeated the test he had done.  "Yes!  We found a key!  Only five more to go!"

            "Now that we found one key, the going should be easier," Blaise said, relieved.

            Noko ran in, wailing.  "Hawwy, Dayco!  Help!"

            "Noko?  How'd you get in here?" Harry asked, trying to catch the frightened puppy.  Noko was running around in circles, waving her arms and shaking her head.  "What's wrong?"

            "Nuncle George i' thick!" she whimpered, stopping and clutching her head.  "He do dis!"  Noko bent over and started pretending to vomit.  "Nuncle Fred an' Lee aw sad!  Day hug Nuncle George and cwy a little!  Nuncle Fred toll me ta ge help!"

            "George is sick!?" Ron whispered, shocked.  "We have to help him!"  He grabbed the antidote, but Draco tackled him.

            "No!  We need that still!  We've just started unlocking it!"

            "You can always get more antidote!" Ron cried.  "George is irreplaceable!"

            "I'm not letting you waste that on a stupid Weasley!"

            "I don't care what you think, let go!"

            "NO!"

            "YES!"

            Blaise bit his lip, then pointed his wand at Draco.  "_Petrificus Totalus_," he whispered.  Draco's arms snapped to his sides and Ron scrambled up.  Blaise threw Richter at him.  "Hurry Ron!"  Ron ran off without a backward glance.

            "George, George!"  Ron ran into George's room, hugging the vial to him protectively.  Fred and George were curled up together in George's bed.  George shuddered in Fred's arms, while Fred turned to Ron.

            "He's dying, Ron," Fred whispered.

            "No, no he's not!  Fred, this is the antidote!  I swear it is!  George has to drink it, and he'll be fine!"  Ron thrust the vial into Fred's hands.  Fred looked at the strange liquid curiously.

            "Where did you get this?"

            "Never mind that for now!  Just give it to George!"

            "Ron, you are aware that one of the symptoms of this disease is the inability to drink, right?"

            Ron's eyes widened.  "Oh no, I forgot about that!"

            Fred prodded George gently.  "Wake up, Forge.  Ron's got something for you that should make you feel better."  George stirred and wrapped his arms tighter around Fred.  "No Forge, you have to wake up."  Reluctantly, George opened his eyes.  "Ron says you have to drink this, and then you'll be alright.  Think you can force it down?"  George touched the vial weakly and nodded.  Fred helped him sit up and brought the vial to George's lips.

            George gagged and choked, but managed to drink the whole thing.  He made a face and curled up in Fred's arms again, quickly falling asleep.  Fred looked at the empty vial, then at Ron.

            "So, where _did_ you get this?" he asked.

            Ron squirmed under Fred's gaze.  "From Malfoy," he muttered.

            "Malfoy?  How much do you trust him?"

            "Well, Zambini is sick too, and I think he's Malfoy's best friend.  Malfoy wouldn't go through all this trouble to save Zambini's life if it was pointless."

            "Ron?  How much of this antidote was there?"

            Ron fidgeted uneasily.  "Well, ah, that was all of it."

            "So Blaise will die?  And all the others?"

            Ron shook his head energetically.  "Oh no, Malfoy will just get more of the antidote, then we'll keep on trying to make more ourselves."

            "And where did he get the antidote from?"

            Ron didn't like the way this was turning out.  As it was, he'd told Fred more then he should have.  "Lucius Malfoy gave it to him."

            Fred winced.  "It was just announced Lucius is Hogwarts' new headmaster.  If he's behind this, I fear for the world."

Meanwhile

            Lucius spun around in front of the full length mirrors, smiling as his robes swirled around him.  He pitied the poor souls who needed to use magic to look this menacing.  They obviously didn't have the gift.

            A tentative knock at the door jarred him from his thoughts.  "Come in!" he snapped.

            Draco slipped around the door holding a broken vial in his hand.  "Father?  May I ask you a favor?"

            "I don't have much choice, do I?" Lucius growled.  Draco cringed.  Lucius was in a bad mood.

            "Father, those oafs you have protecting me, Crabbe and Goyle, broke the vial of the antidote you gave me for Blaise.  He didn't drink the antidote before they broke it, and now it's all soaked into the carpet.  Could you maybe give me some more?"

            Lucius advanced on Draco with an evil glint in his eye.  Draco gulped and backed up quickly, cowering away from his father.  Lucius spun on his heel at the last moment, his cloak wrapping around Draco, binding him and drawing him closer to his father.

            "So.  You managed to break what I gave you.  Clumsy boy."  Draco bit back a protest, knowing it was better to quietly agree with Lucius.  "Now you expect Daddy to give you some more.  Why?  To let you break it again?"  Draco shook his head, unable to do much else.  Lucius slapped him, and Draco cringed.  Much to his shock, Lucius stroked the reddening cheek softly and delicately pulled a vial of the antidote from his robes.  He pressed it into Draco's hands.  "I trust this will find its way to the young Zambini without further troubles."  Draco nodded.  Lucius frowned.  "You are the only one with the antidote, besides myself.  I'll be keeping an eye on you."  He tugged on his robes and they fell away from Draco.  "After all, it wouldn't be good for my son to turn traitor, now would it?"

            When Ron returned to the Chamber, Draco was missing.  Hermione was cleaning up shards of broken glass while Harry held Noko tightly so she wouldn't step on any pieces.  Blaise was sitting on the head of the statue of Slytherin, his knees drawn up against his chest, lost in thought.

            "Did you get it to him in time?" Harry asked.

            "Huh?  Oh, I think so.  He's not dead yet, as far as I know, and he actually managed to drink it all.  Fred's still with him, but I don't know where Lee disappeared to," Ron glanced up at Blaise.  "What's wrong with Zambini, and where's Malfoy?"

            "Zambini's a friend of the twins, he's kinda taken it hard that George actually got this sick this quickly.  Also, he's afraid he'll be next, and we don't have anymore antidote yet.  Draco. . ."

            Draco stormed into the Chamber and set the vial down next to the cauldron.  Gesturing to the bruise on his face, he spat, "I hope you're happy, Weasel.  Now my father's mad at me _and_ suspects something.  Things can only get worse if he or Voldemort comes marching in here right now, kicking butt and taking names."  Ron stared at him.  "If George dies, I will _kill_ you, understand?  I will not torture you, I will not hit you, you will be _dead_.  I know Avada Kedarva, I have been _more_ then adequately trained in using it, I _will not hesitate_ to slaughter you where you stand.  And if anyone tries to save you, they will be dead too.  Even if Noko tries to save you, I will kill her."  Draco's voice was cold, dark, and pure evil.  He sounded just like his father.

            "Uh, Draco?" Blaise rested his hand on Draco's shoulder hesitantly.  Draco shoved him aside.  Blaise caught a flash of red fire in Draco's pale eyes and realized for the first time just how deadly his friend could be, if pushed far enough.  "Dragon, what did he do to you?" Blaise's whisper was soft enough for only Draco to hear.  Draco shoved him again, and Blaise backed down.  He started cleaning up the work area.  "Perhaps it's best for us to call it a day," he said, worried about Draco's behavior.

            Ron, Hermione, Noko, and Blaise all took Richter up the pipe first, leaving Harry and Draco alone.  Draco scuffed his foot nervously.

            "I wouldn't really kill Noko, you know."

            Harry nodded.  "I know."

            "But you have to take full care of her now.  My father hates her.  He all but said he'd kill her if he sees her near me again."

            The red gleam had completely faded from Draco's eyes, making him look lost and sad.  He looked so forlorn that Harry hugged him, surprising both boys.  Draco further startled them both by starting to cry softly into Harry's shoulder.

            Harry suddenly realized why Draco had started being nice to Ron, Hermione, and himself.  Draco had always been well-balanced in his energies before, but with all the changes in is life, something had been thrown out of whack.  It had been too difficult to be nasty to Harry and his friends _and_ keep up his image to the rest of the school _and_ get good grades _and_ look after Noko _and_ stay docile and submissive to his father and Voldemort _and_ plot treasonous acts while outwardly being a Death Eater _and_ deal with raging teenage hormones. . . Harry wasn't sure how long Draco's list could get.  For Draco to put more energy into one thing, staying docile and submissive, he had to slack on another.  With his strength being pulled this way and that, it wasn't surprising Draco snapped.

            "We aren't really that different," Harry murmured, rubbing Draco's back comfortingly.  "We've both had really crummy live families and now find ourselves way too much to easily handle."

            Draco stood in Harry's embrace until Richter returned.  He then pulled away quickly, scrubbing at his eyes.  "No one is to know about this."

            Harry smiled.  "I won't say a word if you don't."

One, maybe two more chapters to go.  

~Crawler


	13. Only the beginning

This chapter feels rushed to me.  A lot happens.  It's also the last chapter, and I never could end stories well.  I also can't write nice soppy reunion scenes, so Harry meeting his dad in person isn't a tear jerker or anything.  It's actually kinda pathetic, in my opinion, but I can't think of anything else.

Oh well.  A lot of unresolved problems at the end, but that's okay, it's supposed to be like that.  The sequel, _The Founders, will deal with most, if not all, of that stuff.  Look for it soon, I can't wait to write it!  It'll be much darker and a deathfic, and so confusing, but it actually has a tentative outline already written, so I know where it's going.  With Wolf-Child, I just wrote a one-shot, a really bad one-shot, that developed into something more._

Don't own 'em, so there! :P

**_Wolf-Child_**

Harry and Noko snuck down the hall, hidden by the invisibility cloak.  Noko was holding onto Harry's leg with one hand and biting the other to stifle the giggles that threatened to erupt.  This game was FUN, but she had to be quiet!  That was part of the rules!

Harry looked both ways, about to cross the hall to get to Myrtle's bathroom when Fred and George flew past.  Harry plastered himself against the wall, afraid they would run into him.  They didn't, luckily.  Instead they turned into raccoons before disappearing into the hole that led to James' prison.  Harry rubbed his nose and dashed across the hall.

Ever since Fudge had been found dead in his office several days ago, Lucius had beefed up security around Hogwarts.  Students continued to die from the disease, Lucius pointed out that no new case of the sickness had sprung up since he became headmaster.  The governors noticed that too and agreed that Lucius was doing a good job.  No one knew what he was trying to find or stop at Hogwarts, but Harry knew that sneaking into Myrtle's bathroom had gotten a heck of a lot harder.

"It's about time you got here," Draco drawled.  "We've been waiting ages."  He sounded bored, but he was smiling.  Harry smiled back.  Ever since that outburst, Draco had really loosened up.  He was actually pleasant to hang out with all the time.

"_Open up," Harry hissed.  As the sink slid away, there was a __*pop.*  Everyone jumped and looked around.  Fred picked himself up from the fireplace he had appeared in and ran out the door, down the hall, and back through the hole in the wall.  The group stood in the doorway staring after him._

Three more _*pops* occurred behind them.  Fred and George tumbled out of the fireplace, then helped a third man up.  Harry's mouth dropped open.  So did James Potter's._

"_Dad!?" Harry asked quietly._

"_Harry!?" James whispered back, just as shocked._

Draco sat back and watched them, amused.  His interest quickly died out as the two Potters just stood there, staring at each other, their mouths hanging open.  With a long suffering sigh, Draco led Harry to James and wrapped their arms around each other.  He gestured for Blaise to take the role of Harry.  In a deep voice, he began.  "Why hello there, Harry my boy!  How've you been?"

Blaise adopted a high-pitched chirp.  "Oh Daddy, I've been missing you terribly!  How've you been?  Please say you missed me too!"

"Of course I have, Harry my boy!  How could I not!  Being stuck behind that wall for years, and you not even sending me an owl!"

"Oh Daddy, I'm sorry!  I didn't know you were back there though, honest, I didn't!"

Fred and George sat down to watch the show, pulling Noko into their laps.  Hermione wasn't sure what to make of the scene, and Ron was torn between standing with his girlfriend or sitting next to his brothers and wondering where the popcorn was.

Harry glared at Blaise.  "I don't talk like that!"

James wrinkled his nose.  "Harry my boy?  Who in their right mind says that these days?"

Draco shrugged and smiled.  "Well, it looked like the perfect set up for a touching reunion scene, the only problem was you two weren't talking.  _Someone had to talk for you, don't blame us for stepping up and filling your shoes!  We were doing you a favor!"_

Fred snorted and they all lost it, hugging each other and making introductions all around.  James remembered Molly from school days, she had been a seventh year when he was a first year, but she was always very kind and helpful to the first year newbies.  He was quite pleased to meet yet another of her children, and thrilled that they had practically adopted Harry as their son who lived away from home.  Hermione reminded him of Lily, James said, always studious and down-to-earth, but very pretty.  Hermione didn't know what to say, so she settled for blushing and stammering her thanks to the tiles.  

James wasn't sure how to react when Harry introduced Draco and Blaise to him.  They both assured him they were nothing like their fathers, but that did little to ease his fears.  However, since they were Harry's friends, James did promise he would try to put past prejudices aside.

Noko won James' heart just as she did everyone else's.  She wiggled into his arms, wagged her tail, and looked at him with big puppy eyes.  Soon James was wrapped around her fingers just as securely as everyone else.  Not that Noko minded.

"Hey Harry?"  Fred and George were peering around him curiously, looking at the spot once occupied by a sink.  "What's with the hole?"

"Oh, that, uh, well . . ."

"It's the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets," Ron interrupted.  "We've been working on the antidote down there, want to help?"

"The Chamber of Secrets?" James asked, awe in his voice.  "So it _does exist!  Siri and I spent years searching for it!  We never guessed it was here!  Speaking of Siri, where is he, and Remus?  The twins say they're both professors here. . ."  James trailed off, letting someone else finish._

Harry blushed and adjusted his glasses.  "Well, they're both Defense professors, so they're probably showing each other different, ah, teaching techniques."

"Teaching techniques?" James asked, smiling at Harry's blush.  How many times had he done that himself, after interrupting those two.  "Well, we wouldn't want to disturb them, would we?"  Harry shook his head frantically, and James grinned broader.  Harry must have interrupted them himself, and learned from experience.  "Well then, what about this Chamber?  Can we go down?"

Blaise stepped out of the way.  "After you," he said with a smirk, "But mind you, it is quite disgusting down there."

Fred and George looked at each other and shrugged before climbing into the pipe and sliding down.  James let Harry go first and followed him down.  Hermione went next, then Ron with a yelp as Draco advanced on him, looking murderous.

"Why did you tell them?" Draco asked Ron when they were all at the bottom.  "Your brothers, and Mr. Potter.  They didn't need to know."

"Need to or not, Fred and George are top in their potions class.  Potions is the only class they really care about good grades in, because it vexes Snape even more when he isn't able to give them bad grades.  If anyone can help us with the antidote, it's them.  As for Mr. Potter, Harry's been spending most of his free time down here.  He deserves to spend that time with his long-lost dad, don't you think?"

Draco shrugged.  "Fathers aren't always all they're cracked up to be."

But he was wrong.  James, Fred, and George proved to be invaluable additions to the potions gang.  Within a week, the recipe for the antidote was completed and the Chamber rang with their cheers.

Lucius was not amused.  Students who had been sick were suddenly better, and all the clues pointed to Harry and Draco at the center of it all.  He was never able to prove anything though, and that only made his temper worse.

To top it off, James had reappeared in the living world.  Lucius had actually stormed out of the Great Hall during dinner when James showed up for the first time.  No one had any idea why.  There never had been any form of friendship between the two, but James didn't know Lucius hated him _that much._

            Other then Draco showing up to class with fresh bruises occasionally, the rest of the school year passed quickly.  Harry relaxed, positive that the evil plan of the year had been foiled.  However, there was one small issue yet to be resolved.  In an election for the new Minister of Magic, two candidates brought in exactly half of the vote each.  In an unprecedented move, Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley were named Co-Ministers of Magic.  A rift started to form in the wizarding world, but nothing serious.  Sadly, the new Ministers of Magic were failures.  Nothing could be done without the approval of both ministers, and they never agreed with each other.  Entire weeks were spent with them arguing over whether or not the dementors of Azkaban should be replaced with something less likely to turn to Voldemort, or if envoys should be sent to the giants.

            Harry moved in with his father, who had moved in with Sirius, who had moved in with Remus, who had to build an addition onto his home.  Harry laughed  and laughed as the three adult wizards struggled to build the muggle way, then gave up and cast illusion charms to hide them building it with magic.  Harry's summer started off being the best he'd ever had.

            When Mrs. Weasley suggested a trip to Muggle London, and invited Harry and his entire household along, they all jumped at the chance.  Hermione was invited as well, and Harry looked forward to seeing her and Ron again.  The twins had a mild summer cold and declined, offering to keep Noko company while the rest went out.

            Harry would never forget that evening when they returned to the Weasleys.  They had all been laughing over something Mr. Weasley had bought, some unidentified object that had a plug _and used batteries, when Ginny's laughter turned into a strangled cry.  The Burrow was gone, replaced by smoldering rubble and the Dark Mark hovering overhead.  Looking at the ghostly green skull, Harry realized what Mr. Weasley had meant when he said "Just picture coming home and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house, and knowing what you're about to find inside . . . Everyone's worst fear . . . the very worst . . ." after the Quidditch World Cup._

            Screaming Fred and George's names, the group tore towards the house, packages left abandoned.  Two figures dressed in black stood from where they had been crouched in the ruins, but flung themselves back to the ground when the adults flung stunning spells at them.  Harry grabbed one, Ron got the other.  The two figures looked like miniature Death Eaters.  Ginny marched forward and pulled off their masks.

            "_Draco!?" Harry gasped.  Draco struggled against Harry's grip._

            "Get off!"

            Harry looked over at Ron's Death Eater, Blaise.  Blaise was hanging limply in Ron's grasp, not trying to do anything.  "What are you doing here?" Ron asked, shaking Blaise roughly.  Blaise didn't respond, just sagged even more.  "Answer me!  Where are Fred and George?"

            "We don't know!" Draco cried.  "We're looking for them!"

            "We didn't do this," Blaise whispered.  "Oh Draco, it's just like my dream, just like I said.  _We didn't do this." _

            "I think they're telling the truth, Ron," Harry said.

            Ron scowled and shook his head.  "They're Death Eaters, Harry, at the scene of the crime.  That's all we need to know.  Not even Lucius can get Malfoy out of this now.  All the evidence is right here."

            "Lucius!" Draco cried, renewing his struggles.  "Lucius isn't Lucius!  He's not my father!"

            "What?"

            "Lucius, the Minister of Magic, isn't my father!  He's Fudge, using the Polyjuice Potion!"

            "Fudge is dead!"

            "No, he's not!  I saw him!  He has my father stunned and imprisoned in our dungeons, and is using the Polyjuice Potion to go around as my father!  I don't know why, but he's doing it.  Fudge is a dark wizard!"

            "Arthur!  Molly!  Over here!"  Remus' call interrupted Draco.  Remus was holding up a large beam while Sirius moved a body out from under it.  "It's one of the twins, I don't know which one!"

            Draco and Blaise were forgotten as everyone crowded around the body.  Mrs. Weasley checked him over, smoothing his hair back and peering into his glassy eyes.  "It's Fred," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears.  "Oh, it's Fred!"  She started sobbing into Mr. Weasley's arms.  Percy knelt beside Fred and touched his hand.

            "It can't be Fred," Percy whispered.  "Fred's always moving."

            "Noko," Harry whispered.  "Noko!  We forgot about Noko!  Where is she?  Has anyone found her?"

            By now, Ministry officials had showed up on the scene.  Draco and Blaise hid their Death Eater masks and pretended they had been trying on their Hogwarts robes, in case they needed to be retailored.  None of the officials paid them much attention; after all, what evil wizard has two skinny 16 year old boys to be his dark servants?

            Noko was found, shivering, under the remains of a bed.  Other then being frightened out of her mind, she was fine.  Not even a scratch or a bruise.  Harry and Draco hugged her tightly, ruffling her fur and telling her they loved her over and over.

            Several hours later, the Ministry officials announced that the chances of finding George in the rubble, dead or alive, were virtually nonexistent.  Either his body had been destroyed or removed from the scene.  There wasn't a stone left unturned.  Draco sat next to Harry, who was hugging Ron.  Ron was holding Fred's hand and crying silently.

            "Is this the end then?" Ron asked.  "Is this how everything's going to end?"

            "No," Draco whispered.  "I fear this is only the beginning."

Now, I'm sure a few of you are panicking.  Just when Fred and George are okay, no sickness or anything, I kill one and vanish the other.

Well, think about it.

THIS ISN'T A DEATHFIC.

So, Fred's not dead.

Nor is George.

~grins~

~Crawler


End file.
